Birthday of Sri Guru Ramdas Ji

‘Chak de India’
Sports
Hockey eves make it to
Olympics after 36 years
BUREAU REPORT
I
t was a ‘ Chak de..’ moment
for the Indian women’s
hockey team as they qualified for the
Rio 2016 Olympic Games after after a
gap of 36 years. The last time the team
made it to the Olympics was in 1980 in
Moscow, where they finished fourth.
The Indian eves clinched their
ticket to Rio, courtesy the England
team who defeated Spain in the semifinals
of the Euro Hockey Championships
in London.
England's victory over Spain, coming
after the Netherlands' win in the
first semifinal meant two teams that
have already qualified for the
Olympics were in contention for the
European Continental title, thus freeing
a quota place.
India fitted into the slot because of
their fifth place finish at the Hockey
World League semifinals in Antwerp.
The Federation Internationale de
Hockey (FIH) confirmed India's qualification
soon after it emerged that either
England or the Netherlands will
win the European championships.
India women joined the nine teams
already qualified for Rio - Korea as
Asian Games champions, Argentina as
Pan Am Games champions and Great
Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands,
Australia, New Zealand and the USA
through the Hockey World League
Semifinals.
A joyous moment for the Indian hockey eves as they qualify for the 2016
Olympic Games
Chak de India seems to be the
mood in the Indian camp. Joyous moments
could be seen in the eyes of the
eves who vowed to make the most of
the Olympic qualification as it could be
the last opportunity for many players
to compete in the showpiece event.
An overjoyed skipper Ritu Rani
was still in the process of realizing the
dream run into the Olympics. The 23-
year-old midfielder said: “The feeling
of the historic moment is yet to sink in.
But we will have to work harder to
excel at Rio. The players are in high
spirits. We will have to improve our
penalty corner conversion rates and
also bolster our defence.”
Star striker Rani Rampal, whose
crucial goal against Japan in Antwerp
kept the Indians in the hunt, said: “This
is just so unbelievable. While we were
sure of a berth but now that this has
happened it is still hard to believe. We
had been playing and practicing for
this moment for many years now.
Many in the team were aware that it
would be the last opportunity to
achieve our dream and play in the
Olympics and this time we were
adamant that we will make this happen.”
Meanwhile, chief coach Mathias
Ahrens said that his team did an incredible
job, adding that girls have
made themselves legendary after ending
a 36-year Olympic wait.
October 2015
Punjab Advance
39