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Tete opened up about the dedication of the side to work towards their new goal after missing out on the flight to Paris for the 2024 edition of the Paris Olympics ahead of the ACT slated to begin on the 11th of November.
Salima Tete. (X)
The Indian women’s hockey team will vie for the top spot at the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy at Rajgir, and skipper Salima Tete opened up about the dedication of the side to work towards their new goal after missing out on the flight to Paris for the 2024 edition of the Paris Olympics.
“Yes, of course, we were disappointed but we can’t think about the past and need to move forward. We should move on because if we don’t move on, we can never win a match,” Tete said.
“It was very difficult for everyone, not just for me but for everyone in the team. But we have worked on it,” she added.
The 22-year-old touched upon how much the side has had to work on their fitness since the arrival of head coach Harendra Singh.
“We had to start from the beginning. We had to start from the scratch. And fitness was an area that Harendra sir had pointed out and which needs a lot of work,” she said.
“It was our mistake that we didn’t work on fitness. But since sir came, we have worked a lot on our fitness. In today’s level, if you don’t have fitness, you can’t play hockey because it is a fast sport and you need fitness,” she added.
She reflected on the gradual improvement in the area of strength the side has been demonstrating in recent times.
“We do work on our strength. I also noticed that we were not able to lift so much weight. The girls are now squatting more than 100kgs. This shows that we are working on our fitness. This shows that we are getting better,” the 22-year-old added.
She also cited the lack of mental fortitude in the past and how much Harendra’s prescribed intensive mental strengthening and team building camp at the Indian Naval Academy in Kerala back in July has helped the side.
“We didn’t have mental experience. So, the camp was very good. We didn’t know how it was going to be. It was very hard but we handled it. We were not able to sit and relax, we were very busy,” Salima said.
“We have learned that we won’t get anything if we don’t work hard. We won’t be able to keep up.”
She also mentioned that the side has worked hard to improve on netting from inside the danger area in addition to other nuanced things, while also adding the road ahead for the Indian women’s hockey team.
“Our focus is on scoring from inside the circle and also from penalty corners. We have worked on this. We have worked on small, small things.”
“A new season has started for Indian women’s hockey. The aim is to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics and finish on the podium there. That’s the view,” she added.
“It is a very big thing for us and we are working for it from now. We are starting from zero. Sir tells us that we have to go to the Asian Games, World Cup and the 2028 Olympics,” Tete stated.
Tete voiced the side’s desire to clinch the ACT and the necessity to perform upto their potential in the forthcoming event.
“We want to win this championship (ACT). We don’t think about results, we just want to play our game,” Tete said.
“To win this tournament we need team effort. Every player has to show her skill, like my strength is speed, so I have to use my speed to help the team,” she added.
“Everyone has different strengths and we will play to our strengths,” Tete concluded.