“I want to scale the Everest, not K2 or Kanchenjunga,” said India’s coach Harendra Singh, sitting with the team captain Rani Rampal at the Sports Authority of India Bengaluru before leaving for the Commonwealth Games.
A journalist had asked him what the Indian women’s hockey team wanted to achieve in Gold Coast.
A gold medal is what this Indian side, led by Rani, wants to get. But to get that will not be easy. India might have to upset a few higher-ranked teams to reclaim the gold medal it won 16 years ago in the multi-sport event. Harendra’s Everest analogy here is apt, then.
The start of the ascent for India, however, is likely to be a little easy, for, they will be up against the second lowest ranked team (26th in the world rankings) at the Commonwealth Games. Wales, in their previous attempts at the Games, have never finished in the top-5 (11th in 1998), 8th in 2010, and 9th in 2014).
But under head coach Kevin Johnson, the Welsh girls are optimistic ahead of their first match against the Indians. Johnson, who’s worked as a teacher, has brought in a new philosophy into the team that focuses on their strengths and weaknesses rather than the oppositions’.
“We are trying to concentrate on us, where as in the past we have thought about the opposition,” Johnson recently told coach-logic.com. “When I came into the role as head coach, I was keen to find a Wales way of playing. That means being brave and courageous on the ball, showing better individual skills and finding better ways of doing things.”
They’d also adopted a new training system to enhance the players’ skill and fitness. Johnson’s also extensively using video analysis to improve the teams’ strategy and for the players to understand their games better.
“Can we continue to play bravely and not worry about the opposition? I hope so. I hope we will go out without fear and play as we want to,” Johnson said.
But the Welsh girls will be up against a determined opposition, who are in good form. Last year, India won the Asia Cup beating China in the final. A 3-1 win over South Korea in their backyard has boosted the team’s morale.
“The girls understood the pressure of playing away games. We played in a few pockets and the transition between midfield to forward line has been good. The counter was swift and they showed mettle against the Korean team,” coach Harendra had pointed out the positives from that successful Korean tour.
“2018 is the biggest year for us to bring hockey to the forefront,” captain Rani told The Field. This year, she reckoned, was a great opportunity for her team to take women’s hockey in India to new heights. That mission, she and her teammates will hope, should start with a resounding win against Wales.