New Delhi, Aug 19 (FN Agency) Salima Tete, talented midfielder in India women’s hockey setup, said that the team team’s aim was on the podium finish at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after a poor World Cup campaign earlier this year. Salima has been instrumental in the team’s success stories in the last half-decade or so and hopes to be central to many more moments of glory. The Indian women’s claimed a bronze medal in Birmingham CWG after beating New Zealand 2-1 in the shootout and at the World Cup held in Spain and the Netherlands earlier this year India had a disappointing ninth place finish. “After we had a bad campaign at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, the team’s aim and our focus was very clear. We wanted to do well at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, there was no other option. We were sure we had to get a medal before returning back to India.
Kuch na kuch karna hi hai,” Salima said.Salima said that the likes of Asunta Lakra and Nikki Pradhan have been the most influential mentors in her career. “I came to hockey through the junior nationals and I had a role model in Asunta Lakra. I wanted to become like her, when I saw her playing, I felt that if she can do it, so can I. Nikki Pradhan’s a very important figure in my development and has always had enough time for me. My family too is very supportive and they don’t think of the difficulties, my family, my parents and siblings are very supportive. The outlook for them is that we should do well irrespective of everything, we want to be the best version of ourselves,” Salima recollected.She also revealed that the players’ meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is nothing short of motivating, and not just for someone like her. “Meeting the PM was a very big thing for someone like me.
All of us meeting the PM, is a source of motivation, so that we keep working hard and trying to achieve good results, and it is also very encouraging for the younger players coming through the system. “Having learnt to play the sport on grass grounds as young kid, one of the biggest moments in Salima’s career so far has been the 2021 Tokyo Olympics campaign, where India finished fourth. While that has done a lot for the athlete, Salima says it’s ensured that her village has better training facilities, and that it is no more tucked away from the glare of the spotlight. “Before the Tokyo Olympics, no one knew about our village and after I came back, the focus on our native place has increased a lot. We have people visiting us from different places, people recognising the village I come from. It is really heart-warming. Even for my family, they feel very good when people come to visit. The whole atmosphere has changed and it makes me very happy.” “Playing for India has really changed my life a lot, it has given me everything I could have asked for. I just want to keep performing for the country and winning more matches,” she said.