There was not a hint of tiredness on their face despite a long night flight into the Capital from far away Germany. They were smiling from cheek to cheek and cheering their coach as the entire Indian hockey fraternity turned up to applaud the U-19 girls’ hockey team for having won a never before bronze medal at the Junior Women’s World Cup.
Indeed, it was a hockey event with a difference, an event where the men’s team skipper Sardar Singh and Co were among the audience, leading from the front in joining the applause of the otherwise low profile girls who came from all corners of India to team up for this unprecedented victory. The Neil Hawgood-coached side defeated England 3-2 on penalties for the bronze medal in the tournament held recently in Montengladbach, Germany. Hockey India rewarded each of them with Rs 1 lakh each, giving away Rs 50000 each to the support staff.
As a beaming Hockey India general secretary Narinder Batra called the girls and support staff to the dais, the maximum applause went to Hawgood. “All the credit goes to my girls,” the gracious coach said. On the sidelines of the glittering ceremony held in the Capital on Wednesday to felicitate the eves, Hockey India’s high performance director and men’s team’s interim coach Roelant Oltmans said, the work done by the team would be inspiring for the overall Indian hockey fraternity.
“Their feat is inspiring because I feel every success inspires to achieve another success,” the Dutchman said, preferring not to talk about the chances of the men’s team for the crucial Asia Cup where India must win the event to qualify for the World Cup. “This is a programme to celebrate the great stuff of our girls. I will not say anything on the men’s team.... The men’s team was following the girls junior WC and they are very happy with their effort,” he said.
Oltmans said the feat had surprised him. “Frankly, I was expecting a top two finish in their group which meant a top eight finish overall. But, the girls played really well, held their nerves in tight match situations against better teams and gelled as a team. So, this feat is a real bonus for us,” he said.
Talking about the senior women’s team, Oltmans “there are many areas where we need to improve. The circle play needs certain improvement. It is not that the Indian women’s team will be better overnight. We have the talent. But, they need time. Almost the same team played in the Hockey World league Round 3 and it was not a good result. So, we need to be patient for results to come at the senior level,” he pointed out.
Skipper Pukhram Sushila Chanu added, “As a captain, I am extremely happy for each one of us. We had a very good preparation before leaving for the WC. We had worked hard for it. So, it feels nice to come home with a medal,” said the centre half.
The men’s team coach M K Kaushik agreed that the junior show would be a morale booster for Asia Cup. With four main strikers — S V Sunil, Danish Mujtaba, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Akashdeep Singh — ruled out of the Asia Cup due to injuries, India find themselves in an alarm zone ahead of the all-important tournament.
But Kaushik put up a brave face to insist that “injuries are part and parcel of every game. We will miss some good players but it will also provide opportunity to youngsters”. India’s captain Sardar Singh, however, said he will miss Sunil’s experience. “Danish, Gurwinder, Akashdeep and Sunil all were very important players but we can’t do anything as injuries are part of the game. Oltmans told us that we need to take all these out of our mind because we just can’t depend on one player. But we will surely miss Sunil’s experience,” he added.
Sardar reiterated the need for a full-time psychologist for the team, pointing out how Oltmans was filling up for now. “There will be pressure (in Asia Cup). We need a regular psychologist with the team. Oltmans is interacting one-on-one with the players and trying to fill that void,” he said. later in the day, the eves called on Sports Minister Jitendra Singh who announced a cash prize of Rs 50,000 to each member of the team and Rs 25,000 each to the support staff. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge commended the performances of eight players of the girls team who work for the Railways.