The Tribune: We were prepared for shootout, says Rani
After India’s thrilling win through the penalty shootout, Indian captain Rani said that the team benefitted from having prepared hard for such tense situations.
“We worked a lot on creating PCs and Gurjit worked hard on converting PCs during our camps,” she said. “We were also well prepared for a shootout situation as we were anticipating the knockouts to end in shootouts. All the preparation helped us today.”
“We were not happy with our performance in Johannesburg at the World League Semifinals and right then the team had decided that we need to start winning in order to gain that confidence to perform well in top tournaments,” the skipper said.
Big year ahead
Rani said it was important for the team to enter next year’s World Cup on merit.
“We are all extremely happy that we won the Asia Cup and have earned the qualification for next year’s World Cup on merit,” said Rani. India had failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and last figured in the event in 2010.
“We had a lot of young players in the team who showed great spirit in playing on such a big platform,” she added about today’s win. “The team gave a good fight to China and China too played equally well today and the match went into penalty shootout.”
“It was a high level competition and we did not drop our level at any point in the game,” Rani said. “Savita made a brilliant save in sudden death and I am happy I could convert that goal in sudden death.”
She said the win has boosted the team’s confidence for next year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games.
“We would like to especially thank Hockey India and SAI (Sports Authority of India) for their continued support and ensuring we get the best facilities,” she said. “Hopefully we will carry this confidence and motivation into the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.” — PTI
2Number of Women’s Asia Cup titles India have won. China and Japan also have two titles, while South Korea have won the event thrice
28Goals scored by the Indian team in six matches in the tournament
8 Goals scored by drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur, making her India’s top-scorer in the tournament
All win
Just like the men’s team, the women’s team also won the Asia Cup without losing a single match. But while the men had one draw, the women won all their matches to make it an impressive feat