Women's hockey team hopes to turn the tide

+ The women's hockey team has been in a disarray for some years. Under coach Harendra Singh, it is looking for a reset

- Deepti Patwardhan

Athletes don't have the luxury to stop," says former India hockey captain and ace goalkeeper Savita Punia. "You have to think of the next step, the next match, the next tournament. Win or lose, you keep going."

As exhausting as that may sound, in tough times, the promise of a bright new day is a boon. That's what the Indian women's hockey team is chasing.

After the highs of Tokyo in 2021, where India finished a historic fourth at the Olympics, the hockey team has gone through a period of turbulence. They failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Games and endured changes in leadership—from Sjoerd Marijne to Janneke Schopman to Harendra Singh in a span of three years. Having escaped relegation last season, India suffered a body blow in late June as they dropped out of the FIH Pro League after finishing last on the leaderboard. But they have an opportunity to turn the tide at the next stop: the Women's Asia Cup, which will take place from 5-14 September in Hangzhou, China. The winner of the Asia Cup also gets a direct entry into the 2026 Women's World Cup.

"It was disheartening to not get the results at the Pro League," says India coach Harendra Singh. "But we have gone back to the drawing board and identified the areas of concern."

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

It wasn't an easy reckoning for the team since they floundered at both ends of the pitch. In the Pro League, a tournament where the top 9 teams in the world compete, India lacked finesse in finishing and were thwarted in defence. They had the least number of circle penetrations (210) amongst the nine teams, and conceded 102 penalty corners (PCs). The end result: just two outright wins in 16 matches. India, who had won a bronze in 2021-22, will thus play in the second-tier FIH Nations Cup next season.