CWG 2022 | Not just a medal for us, it is an inspiration: India women’s hockey captain Savita on historic bronze

India women’s hockey captain Savita said that the historic bronze-medal finish at the Commonwealth Games is an inspiration for her team.

India ended their 16-year medal drought at the Commonwealth Games with a bronze medal finish after defeating New Zealand 2-1 in the shootout. The sides were tied 1-1 at the end of relegation time.

India started their Commonwealth Games campaign with back-to-back wins against Ghana (5-0) and Wales (3-1) before losing to England (1-3) in their third match. India bounced back with a 3-2 win against Canada in their fourth match to finish second in Pool A.

Savita-led side suffered a controversial loss to Australia in the semi-final, which pushed them to bronze medal match. During the shootout in the last-four match, the countdown clock had not started, which shattered India’s dream of making it to the final.

“We are happy and proud of what we’ve achieved, and most importantly how we’ve achieved it,” Savita said. “The defeat against Australia in the semi-final was hard to accept, we lost our morale.

But it was our Coach Janneke Schopman who motivated us and made us realise that we still have an opportunity to return home with a medal. So, all credit for the medal goes to her. I am proud of how we as a team showed great character and never gave up till the last minute.

“It’s not just a medal for us, it’s an inspiration. The younger generation will also get inspired by this. We’re grateful for all the support and love our fans have given to us throughout our campaign in the World Cup as well as the Commonwealth Games.”

Savita also stressed that India’s immediate goal is to win gold medal at the Asian Games and secure direct qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024. The Asian Games, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but got postponed due to Covid-19, will be held from September 23 to October 8 in 2023 in China.

“We will spend some time at home with our families and come back to the camp with fresh minds. Our goal remains the same, which is to win the Gold medal at the Asian Games for the direct qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024. We take the one-year postponement as an opportunity to train for the Asian Games. We have significant time to prepare and approach step-by-step,” she said.