Rani Rampal's Team India sets gold standard

There has been a paradigm shift in the mindset and approach as far as Indian women's hockey is concerned in recent times.

A couple of weeks ago, India went down to Ireland in a penalty shootout after fighting hard in the quarterfinals of the FIH Women's World Cup in London.

That the then 10th-ranked Indian women's hockey side managed to sneak into the last-eight stage of a World Cup after 40 years was a decent achievement, a fact that would've normally been a cause for celebration in itself.
However, the current bunch of Indian women hockey players is different.

"The World Cup didn't work out the way we had hoped for," India captain Rani Rampal told DNA. "We could've performed better, but we couldn't."

What should have filled the girls with some sense of satisfaction instead left them with a feeling of underachievement, despite India not even qualifying for the previous Women's World Cup in 2014.

It is with this change in mentality that the Indian women's hockey team enters the Asia Cup, with nothing less than a gold medal and, in turn, a direct ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in its radar.

India bagged a bronze in the previous edition in Incheon, and haven't stood on top of the podium since when women's hockey was first introduced in the Asiad in 1982.

Not that it matters to Rani & Co.

"This time, our target isn't bronze or silver. Our target is gold. Our target is qualifying for the Olympics directly. And we're very confident about achieving this target," said Rani.

The confidence stems from a string of positive results this year, with the team finishing a creditable fourth in the 2018 Commonwealth Games — although they were thrashed 6-0 by England in the bronze medal match — and making it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

The progress has shown in their rankings too, with the team jumping to its best-ever ranking of world No. 9 last week, making India the highest-ranked team in Asia in women's hockey.

"There has definitely been a boost in confidence," Rani said. "The World Cup didn't go as we expected, but if there's something we can take out of it, it is that we did something no Indian women's team had achieved in 40 years.
"The World Cup show also improved our rankings. We can take that confidence into the Asian Games, that we've shown major signs of improvements in our last two tournaments: Commonwealth Games and World Cup.
"Now, we need to show the outcome and result of it in the Asian Games," she added.

Fitness, mindset change

This kind of self-belief has been missing in Indian women's hockey for a long time, and there's none better than Rani to throw light on the factors behind it.

She might be just 23 but Rani has been the most experienced and most prolific player in the team for a number of years now since making her international debut in 2009.

This will be the Haryana-born Rani's third Asian Games appearance, having been part of the team that finished third in 2014 and fourth in 2010.

She knows exactly what sets this current team apart from the ones before.

"There's a lot of difference," she said. "This team is a lot fitter. Those teams were also fit but over the last one-and-a-half years, we have worked a lot on our fitness, and it has gone to another level.

"Our team has also become stronger than before. This team has a lot of youngsters, which gives a lot of energy to the group," she added.

It's not all just about fitness, skills and age, though.

"There has also been a big change in the mindset," Rani said. "What we've never managed to do in 40 years, we did it now. That has given players some confidence at various levels that, 'OK, we're in the right track now'," she added.

Areas of improvement

They indeed are, but concerns remain.

While this team has a strong defensive structure, having conceded just three goals in five matches at the World Cup, their attacking flair leaves a lot to be desired.

India converted just five goals in the tournament from multiple scoring chances, three of them coming in one match against Italy. Their penalty corner (PC) conversion too needs a lift, something Rani is well aware of.

"Defensively, we did well in the World Cup. But we want to get better at PC conversion and maximise whatever chances we get.

"We also have to convert the goalscoring chances that we create. Once we do that, automatically the team will play with more confidence. The pressure will reduce on us," Rani said.

The team played the CWG and World Cup under two different coaches, Harendra Singh and Sjoerd Marijne, respectively. The Indian was given charge of the men's team and the Dutchman handed back the reins of the women in May.

The musical chairs hasn't affected the stability of the team, according to Rani.

"There have been no major changes. Even under Harry sir, we played under a similar structure. We're doing everything right in terms of creating goalscoring chances, but we're just not getting the outcome. So, focus is on that in the Asian Games," she said.

The girls realise that recent positive results, improved rankings and rewriting history books will be of little relevance if they do not clinch the gold at the Asiad.

"It's very important for us to win gold, because we are eager to qualify directly for the 2020 Olympics. And, we think we are capable of that," Rani said.