Delhi: India has scripted a history while assuring the maximum medal in the Tokyo Olympic 2020. While Indian women's hockey team has given new hope to the sports lovers as well as women of the nation by qualifying for the first time in the semifinal in the history of the Olympics.
Although the women's team qualified for the semifinal, unfortunately, the two back to back defeats left it barren hand. However, it won the hearts of millions across the world.
Speaking to ETV Bharat after returning from Tokyo, the captain of women in blue, Rani Rampal shared her experiences and memories of the matches. She said this Olympics was very special for the women's team as it managed to qualified for the semifinal. She added that no one had expected such a spectacular game from us but the team had confidence and it grew more after a match with a European team. We constantly improved our game however we lost the medal. We are sad about losing the medal but are full of confidence.
She further said that during Olympic matches every team member was enthusiastic and confident enough which resulted that the team qualified for the semifinal in Olympics for the first time in the history of women's hockey. The lesson from the Tokyo Olympics will boost the morale of every team member and will help to improve our game in the upcoming days, she said adding that we had never expected such a grand welcome at the airport.
The women's team of European countries are physically stronger than the Indian women's hockey team. But the team's confidence has grown up since the South African coach has become part of it. It has also grown up after playing matches with the best teams of the world in the Olympics and its effect will also be visible in the upcoming tournament and the team will try its best to register a win. We have learnt the games of other teams and how to tackle them. There is a 4 years gap in every Olympics and the period is very crucial for every team member. We will utilize the time to secure a medal in Paris Olympics.
Speaking over the renaming of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, she applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision saying that it's an honour to Major Dhyan Chand who is known as the magician of hockey and she is proud to be a hockey player.
The coach of the Indian women's hockey team, Sjoerd Marijne applauded the team's effort and said that no one has expected such a game from them. The team had surprised everyone with their terrific game after qualifying for the semifinal. The Indian women's hockey team had played like a dark horse throughout the tournament. Which is commendable.
Other team members said they had learnt a lot from the Olympics which will help them to improve their game and will improve the combination of the team. As far as the Paris Olympics is concerned, we will try our best to not only qualify for the Olympics but also continue our stellar performance by finishing on the podium in the next Olympics to earn a medal for the country.
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