We desperately wanted a podium finish at CWG, says midfielder Salima Tete

Talented midfielder of the Indian ladies’s hockey workforce Salima Tete revealed that a podium finish was the one goal that the workforce had at the not too long ago concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after a disastrous World Cup marketing campaign earlier this yr.

The Indian ladies’s hockey claimed a bronze medal in Birmingham after beating New Zealand 2-1 within the penalty shootout.

However, at the World Cup held in Spain and the Netherlands earlier this yr which preceded the CWG, India completed a disappointing ninth.

“After we had a bad campaign at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, the team’s aim and our focus was very clear. We wanted to do well at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, there was no other option,” she stated in ‘Hockey Te Charcha’ programme.

“We were sure we had to get a medal before returning back to India. Kuch na kuch karna hi hai (Needed to do something),” she added.

At 20, Salima is among the youngest members of the Indian ladies’s hockey workforce. Although nonetheless new within the set-up, she credit the game for altering her life.

“Playing for India has really changed my life a lot, it has given me everything I could have asked for. I just want to keep performing for the country and win more matches,” Salima famous.

Salima added that she idolises former India captain Asunta Lakra and Nikki Pradhan, each of whom have been mentors to her.

“I got here to hockey via the junior nationals and I had a position mannequin in Asunta Lakra. I wanted to develop into like her, after I noticed her taking part in. I felt that if she will be able to do it, so can I.

“Nikki Pradhan is a very important figure in my development and has always had enough time for me. My family too is very supportive and they don’t think of the difficulties, my family, my parents and siblings are very supportive,” she stated.

Salima additionally revealed that interacting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the workforce’s return from Birmingham turned out to be very motivating.

“Meeting the PM was a very big thing for someone like me. All of us meeting the PM, is a source of motivation. It is a motivation for us to keep working hard and achieve good results.

(Only the headline and film of this report could have been reworked by the Business Standard workers; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)