The Indian women’s hockey team put up a stupendous show winning the silver medal at the Asia Cup in Bangkok on Sunday, losing lost 3-5 to China in the final.
Having qualified for the World Cup next year — by virtue of being finalists — the girls will need to continue their good work if they are to do well at the megaevent.

Chief coach M.K. Kaushik advocates the need for a full time psychologist to help the girls do well ahead.

“It is wonderful to have qualified for the World Cup. The girls played very well but there are areas to improve upon. The results are quite encouraging but you need at least 2-3 years to make a team.

“Considering the fact that there was very little hope from us, especially after we finished fourth in the last Asia Cup in Hong Kong, the performance has improved but is still not up to the mark. I feel we have just improved 50 per cent,” Kaushik said on arrival here on Monday.

The chief coach advocated the need of a permanent psychologist with the team.

“Having a good support staff goes a long way in building a team, and Dr Rajan of Silent Voice helped the team immensely. He worked with us during the last camp, and the association has had a positive impact on the team,” Kaushik said.

“But we need someone with the team for a longer period of time.
We want a psychologist to travel with us to take care of various behavioural issues that confront the players,” he said.

India skipper Surinder Kaur, who played a pivotal role in the team’s success, said the team members were happy to have performed.

“We played as a unit and backed each other immensely.
We focused on our strengths, and that was the key.

“He (the psychologist) definitely helped us change our perspective and go out with a different mindset. As players, we are adept in skills, but mental attitude makes a lot of difference,” Surinder said.