Helen waits for clarion call again
Bengaluru
She captured the imagination of hockey lovers in the country when she won the Asian Cup for India despite a fractured finger in 2004. But a string of disastrous outings followed, including an 11th-place finish in the 2006 World Cup in Spain which saw Helen Mary Innocent make an exit from international hockey.
The exit was not without controversy as many senior players, including Helen, alleged ill-treatment by the then manager Anirutha Saini.
At that point of time a dejected Helen said she was done with hockey and went the family way. Two years down the line, the 31-year-old Arjuna awardee has had a rethink and says she wants to get back into the Indian side and is ready to prove her fitness too.
Speaking from Mumbai, where she is based these days, Helen said, “If the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation asks me to join the camp, I would love to get back to playing for the country. There is no greater joy than donning India colours,” said Helen.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games gold winning captain feels she still has a lot of hockey left in her.
“I have been working hard on my fitness for a year now. I’m sure if I can maintain fitness I surely have a few more years of hockey left in me.”
As a build-up towards her international comeback, the coach-cum-player of the Central Railways team, started working on her fitness three months after her son Gavin Rao was born, a little more than a year ago.