Saga of sacrifices inspires Indian women hockey team for Asiad, Olympics

Savita Punia, Neha Goyal, Nikki Pradhan and Deep Grace are determined to break the jinx and make India proud. They are determined to break the 41-year gold medal jinx in the upcoming Asian Games. The team is confident of securing direct qualification to the Paris Olympics and making India proud.

If one saw her mother working tirelessly for earning Rs 800 a month, the other endured the agony of being unemployed for almost a decade, while another learnt the game by playing with bamboo sticks.

To Savita Punia, Neha Goyal and Nikki Pradhan hockey brought solace, and these Indian women's team players did not let personal turmoil affect their game. Also plenty of sacrifices were made during their journey to the top, making them hungrier for success.

They had their 'Chak de' moment in the Tokyo Olympics where they missed a podium finish by a whisker, and now they are on a mission to realise an unfulfilled dream.

The first step would be to secure direct qualification to the Paris Olympics through the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.

They are not leaving any stone unturned, including giving up on their favourite food, in order to improve their willpower and fitness and win gold in Hangzhou.

"We know that there are immense expectations from us post Tokyo Olympics and this team is capable of winning medals. We are focusing on Asiad gold for Olympic qualification.

"In order to improve our willpower and fitness we have decided to stay away from at least one favourite thing of ours," captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia told PTI Bhasha in an exclusive interview.