Salima Tete: India deserved Asian Games women's hockey gold
India captain Salima Tete said her side never stopped believing after India beat China 1-0 in the women's hockey final at the Asian Games in Japan on Sunday. The one-goal victory ended a 44-year wait for India's women's hockey gold.
The final was decided by a single goal against defending champions China, who sustained pressure and forced the Indian defence to remain alert until the final whistle. "We deserve this victory. This time we had full confidence in our team and players that we would definitely win gold, although China was a very good team. Defending that one goal and winning gold for our country is a proud moment for us," Tete told PTI Videos.
Four members of the gold-winning team — Salima Tete, Beauty Dungdung, Deepika Soreng and Nikki Pradhan — are from Jharkhand; Tete, Dungdung and Soreng hail from Simdega while Pradhan is from Khunti. The quartet returned to a warm reception at Ranchi airport where supporters, coaches and young hockey players gathered and celebrations included the beats of traditional Mandar drums.
After the airport reception, the four players met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren at his residence. "Our wonderful daughters of Jharkhand... You have done wonders," Soren said in a social media post.
Deepika Soreng said the team had been preparing for this moment for a long time and expressed pride in the gold. "We worked very hard to win gold at the Asian Games. We were preparing to achieve this remarkable win for a long time. We feel very proud. It was not easy for us to defend the one goal against a team like China, but we did it," she said.
Pradhan's mother, Jitan Devi, said the family initially knew little about hockey and had tried to stop her daughter from playing before Master Dashrath encouraged her. "When she started playing hockey, we didn't know about this game. We used to stop her, but Master Dashrath kept encouraging her in this sport, and as a result, today she has reached this level. Now we are very proud of her," she said. Salima Tete's father, Sulakshan Tete, attributed her success to years of hard work and struggle: "I am very happy because she is bringing glory to her state and country. She has won the gold medal after a lot of struggle. The Indian women's team's victory is a matter of pride for the entire country, Jharkhand, and obviously for the family," he said.
The victory also booked India's place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "We knew the team we played against was very good and, as we defended against the Australian team at the Tokyo Olympics, this time we defended the lead of one goal against China. Now we have qualified for the upcoming Olympics. We will prepare for that and remove our shortcomings," Pradhan said.