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    Everything About Sports

    Author: Super6

    It is something I will cherish for lifetime- Indian Men’s Hockey Team goalkeeper Krishan Pathak

    With a chance to earn a direct Paris Olympics 2024 qualification, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team will open their 19th Asian Games Hangzhou campaign against Uzbekistan on 24 September 2023. Ahead of the all-important tournament, Indian Men’s Hockey Team goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak on Thursday spoke about his selection in the team and his family’s reaction when he broke the news to them. Speaking about representing the country at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, Pathak said, “It is definitely a proud moment for me and my family. If I look back on my journey, I never imagined that I would get the opportunity to earn more than 100 international caps for India and play my second Asian Games. It is something I will cherish for a lifetime. We will take it match by match and will not take any team for granted. We cannot let our guard down at any given time.” “The training has been going well,” he said, before adding, “All of the players are working hard to prepare for the big tournament. On the practice pitch, we work out every day. Aside from that, we’ve had 4-5 goalkeeping sessions with Dennis, and there will be a few more in the coming days. We’ve gone over the basics again, focusing on the mistakes we made in previous tournaments and how to improve quick decision-making, among other things. Before coming to the camp, Dennis asked us what problems we were having and how we could work together to solve them.” Pathak, a member of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team that recently won the 7th edition of the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, emphasised the tournament’s importance in the run-up to the Asian Games and how it helped them fine-tune their preparations. “We have a good run of games in the lead-up to the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. We played against some top sides, so that will definitely help us in identifying what are our strong and weak points. The players will also get confidence from a good outing that they have had in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes going forward,” he added. The young goalkeeper has played a perfect second fiddle to PR Sreejesh and is ready to take on the lead role too when given the opportunity. On working with Sreejesh, Pathak says, “We have an excellent bonding between us. He is one of the senior players in the team and whenever I am in doubt, I just go up to him and seek his advice on the matter. His experience of playing over the last two decades surely helped me a lot. The Punjab-born player is one of the most talented goalkeepers to emerge from India’s Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 side. He went on to make his debut for the Senior National team at the 4 Nations Invitational Tournament 2018 in New Zealand. He was a part of the 18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang Bronze medal-winning team and lifted the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Muscat 2018 as joint winners with Pakistan.

    The 19-year-old Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke is looking to return home from the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 with a medal

    Indian Women’s Hockey Team midfielder Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke hails from a small village named Asu in Satara, Maharashtra. Although her father, Vitthal Phalke, is a farmer, he was once a wrestler who participated in Kersari Kusthi, a regional wrestling competition in Maharashtra. His dream of winning the competition went unfulfilled, but his passion for sports lives on through his daughter.  “My father was a wrestler when he was young but he couldn’t make it to the big leagues so he invested in me and hoped I would play for the country. He sent me to Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Balewadi, Pune in 2011 to pursue sports and after trying my hand at several games I decided to take up the hockey stick,” she said recounting her first steps as a hockey player.  Vaishnavi spent her childhood away from home to fulfil her father’s dream. In 2017, she played in her first Sub-Junior National Championship, the 7th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s National Championship held in Ramanathapuram. Her tenacity in the midfield was impressive, and she was called up to the Junior Women’s Squad after her stellar performance in the 9th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship in 2019. “My father always encourages me to give my best, and I remember he was really happy when I went on my first international tour as a senior. Once he found out I made the squad for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, his happiness was tenfold. This will be my first major tournament in the senior squad, and I am over the moon to make my father’s dream come true. It is a big platform, and I am looking forward to showing my skills on the pitch,” she elaborated on her feelings after making it into the squad. So far, Vaishnavi has donned the Indian jersey on six occasions and netted one goal. She was also a member of the Junior Indian Women’s Hockey Team that won the Women’s Junior Asia Cup earlier this year in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.  “We have been playing a lot of practice matches in the build-up, along with some hard practice sessions. The whole team has a positive disposition going into training, and my teammates keep encouraging me. They always remind me that if we make a mistake, we are the ones who can make amends,” she commented on preparations for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. “The aim is to come back with a medal, and we do not want to leave the pitch thinking we could’ve done more. I want to perform the same way I do during practice games. There will be a little pressure as it is a major tournament, but I will keep it all aside and play freely and, hopefully, come back with a medal,” she signed off.

    All those years of struggle and sacrifice has paid off- The Manipur-born Indian Women’s Hockey Team goalkeeper Bichu Devi

    Growing up in Manipur, a state that has a deep-rooted passion for football, it came as no surprise that Bichu Devi Kharibam aspired to become a footballer. But destiny had other plans for her. “Hailing from Manipur, it was natural for me to opt for football. I loved playing the sport. But it was my father who suggested that I should try my hands at hockey as it was not making it into the football team. He told me that if I don’t like hockey, it will be okay and I can always come back for football,” Bichu recalled. “Once I started playing, I started loving the game. I used to play as a striker but noticing my agility on the field and my height, one of my coaches advised me to give goalkeeping a try. But I never wanted to become one. It was tough for me at the start, however, as time went on, I started adapting to it. It is true that whatever happens, happens for the best. If it was not for all of that, I wouldn’t be here,” she stated. Fast forward to 2023, almost a decade since she picked up the hockey stick, the youngster from Manipur is on her way to Hangzhou for the 19th Asian Games where India will be vying for the Gold. Her career has been on a steep ascent since she made her breakthrough with eye-catching displays in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina, where India clinched a historic Silver medal. In the following year, she was named ‘Goalkeeper of the Tournament’ in the 4 Nations Junior Women Invitational Tournament in Dublin. She then got an opportunity to represent the Senior Women’s National team in the FIH Pro League 2021/22. She was also part of the team which won the inaugural FIH Women’s Nations Cup in Spain in 2022. Heading to Hangzhou with an aim to earn a direct Paris Olympics 2024 qualification, Bichu expressed excitement about being picked in the squad for Hangzhou. “It feels amazing that I will be representing India at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. All those years of struggle and sacrifice have finally paid off. It is every player’s dream to represent the country at the highest level, and I am grateful that my time to live this dream is here.” To have her family in Bengaluru for the send-off ceremony hosted by Hockey India counts as one of the best moments in Bichu’s life. She said, “It was very special to have my family in Bengaluru for the Sunehra Safar ceremony organised by Hockey India. The smile on my family’s faces when they were called up on the stage to present my India jersey meant the world to me. Seeing them so happy and proud motivated me even more to perform to the best of my abilities. I had not gone home in a long time and when I hugged my mother, I remember, she started crying and hugged me tightly.” Speaking about the team’s preparations, Bichu said, “The preparations have been going well under the guidance of Janneke Schopman. We are motivating each other every day and pushing our limits to the maximum during our training. There is a feeling of excitement too because, for some of us, this is going to be our first appearance at the Asian Games,” she added. The goalkeeper also shed light on facing quality teams at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, she said, “Our aim is only on the Gold Medal. We know what is at stake here and we will not be taking any team lightly. We have been doing extensive goalkeeping sessions to improve on our mistakes. We cannot repeat the same mistakes if we have to come back home with the Gold Medal, she signed off.