The Indian girls’s hockey staff captain Rani opened up on the Indian staff’s report fourth-place end at the Tokyo Olympics and mentioned that it has given motivation to the gamers to carry out higher the following time.
Talking on a Hockey India podcast, Rani mentioned 2021 proved to be a great 12 months for the staff regardless of lacking out on the Olympic medal.
“2021 proved to be a great 12 months for us. We might have received a medal on the Tokyo Olympic Video games. We’ll all the time really feel the ache of not with the ability to try this, as a result of we have been so shut. It was laborious to simply accept it at first,” she mentioned.
“However we completed twelfth in 2016 Rio Olympics however this time at Tokyo, we completed fourth. So, it has been an enormous progress 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 provides us the boldness to do even higher sooner or later,” Rani mentioned.
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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 might have received the semi-final match in opposition to Argentina. We took an early lead within the match and put them beneath strain. We executed every thing the coaches advised us however conceding penalty corners price us,” Rani mentioned.
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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 the right way to stay calm in knockout matches in massive tournaments. We’ll absolutely get higher subsequent time,” Rani added.
Rani additional opened up on the difficulties confronted by the staff through the pandemic earlier than the Tokyo Olympics, and expressed gratitude to the teaching employees, Hockey India, and SAI for taking excellent care of them through the lockdown.
“For each athlete on the planet, the previous two years have been fairly difficult on account of COVID-19. A lot of the athletes have been at their peak earlier than the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed. Quite a lot of doubts crept up in athletes once we have been positioned within the bio-bubble. It was turning into tough to push your self mentally, bodily and emotionally on the time,” Rani mentioned.
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