With a fifth-place finish at the Hockey World League Semifinals, the Indian women's hockey team has almost booked a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics, for the first time in history. The official communication in this regard, though, from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) will come only by the end of October this year, after the culmination of all continental championships. With no coach for half the year and a new one taking charge just a month before the event, it was a gritty performance.
Its architect was 20-year-old Rani Rampal, the top-scorer for India. “When we left we had wanted to be in the top four. But we couldn't do what we wanted to. We lost to Belgium in the very first game, a match we should have at least drawn.
“That changed the rhythm of the tournament. The moment we lost, we knew we had a tough quarterfinal against the Netherlands. But then, we thought the next best thing would be to finish fifth and we did that,” Rani said, hours after returning from Antwerp.
Although jet-lagged and without sleep for almost 36 hours, the players were happy to oblige the occasional stranger walking up for a photograph even as they spoke to The Hindu . “We told ourselves after the Italy match (5-8 places) that the game should have ended much before the shoot-out. We had the chances; we kept attacking throughout the game.
“Perhaps, we were impatient. There was the pressure of winning — we hurried the moves and almost paid for it. But we learnt from it. Against Japan, we were patient, holding on to the ball and waiting for our chance. And when they attacked, we defended patiently,” Rani said.
Goalkeeper Savita Punia, who not only staved off at least five penalty-corners in the last 10 minutes against Japan but stood like a rock throughout the game, agreed. “The Italy game was much more important. We were confident against Japan because we had beaten them at the Asian Games and at the Hawkes Bay Cup in New Zealand.”
Captain Ritu Rani knew this was her last chance to make the cut for the Olympics. As coach Mathias Ahrens drew the Olympic rings after every game to remind the players of their target, Ritu kept staring at them — it was her dream for more than 10 years. “It feels good we managed this under my captaincy, but the whole team worked for it. We had one chance and we had to take it,” she said.
