(Image source from: www.thestatesman.com)

With the upcoming qualifiers against US, the Indian Women’s Hockey team is all set to shine through and make their place in the upcoming Olympics 2020. The midfielder of the team, Sushila Chanu is very confident that the team is going to secure their spot in the upcoming Olympics to be held in 2020 in Tokyo.

The primary reason why Chanu is so sure of this is because of the fact that she has seen the team make a lot of progress in the last 3 years. The Indian team is competing against US on November 1st and 2nd for a berth in the upcoming Olympics.

In an issued stated, Chanu stated saying, “We know how it felt representing India at Olympics when we qualified for it after a 36-year gap in Rio. However, when we came back from that outing, there was a unanimous feeling around the group that we need to push ourselves and make sure we consistently put in the performances which will help us in qualifying for the next edition.”

She believes that the team has made quite huge strides from the prior Olympics game and is now determined to secure their place in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

It is true that the Indian team performed very badly during the Rio Olympics but things seem to be changing for the better in the time that they have had to prepare.

Chanu further said that they currently have 10 players in their current side who were in the Rio team as well. She said that the entire team wants to feel that thrill and experience all over again, together. Not just that, they are also determined to win a medal for the country this time around in the Japan Olympics.

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team is ranked 9th in the world and is currently training at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium ahead of their Olympic qualifiers against US.

The midfielder from Manipur believes that they have a better chance at winning the qualifier game against US because they are playing in their country. The support of the home crowd and the self belief that the Indian team has on them is going to help them rope the win successfully.

They are confident in the kind of hard work that they have put in these three years in between and want that confidence to finally bear fruits in the Tokyo Olympics. Chanu missed two of the biggest tournaments last year because of the injury she sustained but she is now back, stronger than before.

Addressing all the issues, Chanu concluded saying that there are times when she does doubt herself and think about all the what-ifs but the constant support that she has received from her family, support staff and the teammates has propelled her to do better and stand strong on her feet again.

By Somapika Dutta