After finishing 9th at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands 2022, the Indian hockey team look to start afresh as they gear up for the Commonwealth Games scheduled to begin from July 28 in Birmingham.
The Indian team led, by Savita Punia registered two draws against England (1-1) and China (1-1) respectively and lost 3-4 to New Zealand in the group stage. They suffered a narrow 0-1 loss to Spain in the Crossover match, missing out on a quarterfinal berth.
However, the Indian team went on to beat Canada 1-1 (3-2 in the shootout) and Japan 3-1 to finish joint 9th in the tournament.
Young forward Lalremsiami, who featured in all six World Cup matches, expressed that the team will work on the mistakes ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Lalremsiami, team India’s live wire from Mizoram
“We are disappointed with the outcome. I think we could have done better, but at the end, you need to accept, move on and focus on the positive learnings from the campaign. We will work on the mistakes and start afresh for the Commonwealth Games,” stated Lalremsiami.
The 22-year-old player, who scored a goal against New Zealand in the group stage talked about her learnings from the tournament.
“Personally, I could have created more goalscoring opportunities, I could have converted more goals. It didn’t go as planned, but many learnings were involved. I feel privileged to get an opportunity to represent India at the World Cup, and I am really lucky to have very supportive teammates. As I said, we are just taking the positives from the campaign, learning from our mistakes and improving our game,” she said.
With less than two weeks to go for Birmingham 2022, Lalremsiami said, “We introspected on our performance in the tournament and are now focused on working on all the aspects of the game before heading to the big event.
“We have been in Europe for more than a month and there is still a long way to go. It’s a long tour and it’s really important that we stay in the moment and take one step at a time,” she added.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!