The Indian girls’s hockey staff captain Rani opened up on the Indian staff’s report fourth-place end at the Tokyo Olympics and stated that it has given motivation to the gamers to carry out higher the following time.
Talking on a Hockey India podcast, Rani stated 2021 proved to be a superb 12 months for the staff regardless of lacking out on the Olympic medal.
“2021 proved to be a superb 12 months for us. We may have gained a medal on the Tokyo Olympic Video games. We are going to all the time really feel the ache of not having the ability to try this, as a result of we had been so shut. It was arduous to just accept it at first,” she stated.
“However we completed twelfth in 2016 Rio Olympics however this time at Tokyo, we completed fourth. So, it has been a giant development for ladies’s hockey. After we returned, the Indian followers appreciated our efforts. We felt we did one thing good that the followers are giving us a lot love and respect. This offers us the arrogance to do even higher sooner or later,” Rani stated.
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Tokyo Olympics – a studying expertise for hockey staff
Rani spoke about how the staff gained confidence from a 1-0 win over Australia within the quarter-finals and felt they may beat World No. 2 Argentina within the semi-final to earn a podium end.
“I really feel we may have gained the semi-final match in opposition to Argentina. We took an early lead within the match and put them underneath stress. We executed every part the coaches advised us however conceding penalty corners value us,” Rani stated.
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“However I feel it was an enormous studying expertise for all of the gamers within the staff who will get an understanding of stay calm in knockout matches in huge tournaments. We are going to absolutely get higher subsequent time,” Rani added.
Rani additional opened up on the difficulties confronted by the staff in the course of the pandemic earlier than the Tokyo Olympics, and expressed gratitude to the teaching workers, Hockey India, and SAI for taking excellent care of them in the course of the lockdown.
“For each athlete on the earth, the previous two years have been fairly difficult attributable to COVID-19. Many of the athletes had been at their peak earlier than the Tokyo Olympics had been postponed. A whole lot of doubts crept up in athletes after we had been positioned within the bio-bubble. It was turning into tough to push your self mentally, bodily and emotionally on the time,” Rani stated.
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