AMN / Bengaluru
Ace striker Lalremsiami, who was instrumental in women’s hockey team’s triumph at the FIH Series Finals in Hiroshima last month, is optimistic that India will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“The team is very confident ahead of the Olympic Test Event because we have worked hard during our practice sessions. Every session in the National Camp is planned keeping in mind the Olympic Qualifiers. We believe that we have a good team which can repeat history by qualifying for the Olympics again,” said Lalremsiami in SAI centre at Bengaluru .
Indian will face off against Australia, China and Japan at the Olympic Test Event from 17-21 August ahead of the Olympic Qualifiers in October/November .
The team led by Rani had a spectacular tournament at the FIH Women’s Series Finals in June, beating Japan 3-1 in the final.
Lalremsiami admits the team is conscious of not repeating the mistakes they made in the Final of the 18th Asian Games which put them in a disappointing second place while Japan bagged the Gold. “We played very well at the Asian Games and we knew that if we won Gold there then we would qualify for the Olympics. We worked hard during the tournament, but we made a few mistakes and therefore we couldn’t achieve our goal in the tournament. Thereafter, we decided that we will not repeat our mistakes at the FIH Women’s Series Finals and we triumphed in the competition against the same Japan team we lost to in the 18th Asian Games Final”
The 19-year-old from Mizoram further expressed that the various camps organised by Hockey India helped the players improve their game day by day after the FIH Women’s Series Finals. Hockey India organised special goalkeeping and defender camps in Bengaluru in July. “We improved our game day by day in the Special training camps organised by Hockey India. We focused on certain aspects of our game such as when to tackle players, man to man marking etc. After enhancing our game, I believe we are an even more confident unit,” said Lalremsiami.
The talented striker added that India has a team which can take on a top ranked team such as Australia in the Olympic Test Event.
“Australia are one of the best teams in the world, but we are also a good team. So we are confident to take them on in the Olympic Test Event. If we do well at the Olympic Test Event then we will gain more confidence ahead of the Olympic Qualifiers,” said Lalremsiami.
