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India’s Junior Girls Hockey Victory Celebrations Won’t Last Long!
India's Junior Girls Hockey team made history when they brought the bronze medal home last month from the seventh FIH Junior World Cup that took place in Germany.
The Indian women's national field hockey team is the national women's team representing India in Field Hockey. Captain Suraj Lata Devi led the team to the Gold for three consecutive years: during the 2002 Commonwealth Games (the event which inspired the 2007Bollywood hit film, Chak De India), the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup.
Unfortunately, for a long time the team did not win any championships on foreign land. After a gap of nearly a decade, India's Junior Girls Hockey Team brought the Bronze medal home.
The Indian team took onlookers by surprise when they worked their way up the rankings in some nail-biting games against some of the strongest teams in the tournament. In an intense semi-final game against England, the girls were in a deadlock through most of the game, tied at 1-1 and it came down to penalty shots. The two teams had ended 1-1 after regulation time. Navneet Kaur’s strike handed India a 3-2 lead in the shoot out and when Anna Toman missed the following shot, it secured India’s win.
Winning the historic bronze medal in the junior hockey World Cup might have brought the Indian girls in the limelight, but the players know these celebrations won't last long.
Indian Junior women hockey team players celebrate after winning bronze medal at Junior World Cup (Women) in Monchengladbach, Germany on Sunday. India beat England 3-2 via penalty shootout after the regulation time of 70 minutes ended at 1-1./PTI
For those who have never made it to even qualifying for Olympics consider this victory to be great one throughout their career also making it worthy enough like they have won World Cup.
Vice Captain, Rani Rampal who took the first stroke in the shoot-out and scored straight away. Top scorer and heart of the team, Rani, voiced her excitement about the win, mentioning that it is a huge boost to the sport in India for youth, for young women and that it can open doors to the Olympics in the future. Team work and determination were at the core of this win, making it one of the most inspiring wins ever in young women's sports.
Post win the only thing that has changed is that Rani has graduated from a bicycle to a scooty. "I used to go for training on a bicycle. But a back problem meant I could not ride it anymore. That's when I was forced to buy a scooty," she told TOI.
Left to fund for herself despite her glowing achievements, Rani is now looking up to the Haryana government for assistance. "I am thinking of changing my job. A job in the Haryana government will make life easier," she said.
Rani's father Ramphal too rued that there was not much support coming the way of her daughter who's considered one of the best strikers in the country. "I think more should be done for her as she has a bright future," said her father who still pulls a cart for a living.
Rani has two brothers. One of them is a carpenter while the other is employed in a workshop.
India has been recognized for its success with the men's and women's field hockey team with a number of golds under their belts but this is one of the first for the junior divisions. The junior women's team hadn't made it to the quarter finals before yet alone walking away with medals.
Navneet Kaur, the girl who scored the winning goal in India's bronze medal match against England in the junior World Cup. The 17-year-old, one of the youngest in the squad, has had to rely on her family so far for her requirements. Like so many other athletes, Navneet's family too is struggling to support her. "I am small-time AC mechanic.
It's very difficult to fulfill all her requirements. I remember when she first expressed her interest in playing hockey I asked her several times whether she was serious about it. Buying sticks and shoes is an expensive affair," her father Buta Singh told TOI. "It's difficult. She has no job and no sponsors. Even today she has to cover a distance of about two kilometers on foot to attend training in Shahabad."
Hockey India secretary Narendra Batra announced that the entire team and coach will be rewarded with Rs 1 lakh each, while the support staff will get Rs 50,000 each.
Feature &other Images:PTI
Sources: www.dna.com, www.ibn.com, www.ndtv.com,
Geeta Wahab
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Cultivating a life she loves, Geeta (@geets.suites) is chasing all her passions, including her love for home décor. As a brand new home owner, her current journey has launched her further into that world - check out her Instagram @geets.suites for tidbits of her story and other decorating pieces. A...
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