Members of the Junior women’s hockey team which won the bronze medal at the Junior World Cup are seen alongside the sports minister Jitendra Singh at a felicitation ceremony in New Delhi. (Photo Courtesy: PTI)
New Delhi: Indian hockey’s high performance director Roelant Oltmans on Wednesday said the junior women’s team bronze medal finish at the junior women’s hockey World Cup would become an inspiring story to others.
“Their feat is inspiring because I feel every success inspires another success,” the Dutchman said during the felicitation of the junior women’s team, who won the country’s first-ever bronze medal at the quadrennial event in Monchengladbach, Germany.
India pipped England in the penalty shoot-out for the bronze.
“Everyone in the country feels happy when our teams are performing. We are one big hockey family. All the players of the senior team were following the girls bronze medal play-off match against England and when they won we were all dancing and jumping in celebration,” Oltmans said
Oltmans however feels the girls still have a long way to go to match the top teams at the senior level.
“We are no doubt improving but there is still a huge gap to bridge to match the top teams at the senior level. Almost the same team played in the FIH World League Round 3 in Rotterdam where we fared poorly . It proves that there is a huge difference between junior and senior level.
“But the talent is there and the girls have proved that in the World Cup,” he said.
CASH AWARD: Meanwhile, sports minister Jitendra Singh also announced a cash prize of Rs.50,000 to each member of the team and Rs.25,000 each for the coaches.