Indian ladies’s hockey group drag-flick specialist Gurjit Kaur says the gamers have turn into fearless since their historic fourth-place end on the Tokyo Olympics.
Gurjit was one of many architects of the group’s effective run to the semifinals in Tokyo and has been nominated for the FIH Women’s Player of the Year Award 2020-21.
The 25-year-old defender scored the all-important objective within the beautiful 1-0 win over fancied Australia within the quarterfinals.
“Even though we missed out on winning the medal by a whisker, there are a lot of positives to take from this dream campaign,” she was quoted as saying by Hockey India.
“People have began watching us, and I’m positive our efficiency will encourage younger ladies to take up hockey. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 marks the start of a brand new period of Indian hockey.
“We have gained a lot of confidence, we have become fearless, and going forward it will certainly help us perform well in major tournaments. I also hope we get the same amount of love and respect going forward.”
Speaking on her nomination for FIH Women’s Player of the Year Award, Gurjit stated it was a reward for her onerous work and sacrifice.
“It’s an enormous achievement for me to be nominated for the FIH Women’s Player of the Year Award 2020-2021.
“For an athlete, it’s one of the best moments when all your hard work and sacrifices get recognised at a world level, and I am really happy to see my name on that list. It will give me extra motivation to do even better for the team.”
The group missed out on a podium by a whisker, shedding to Great Britain within the bronze medal play-off match.
When requested about that decisive objective in opposition to Australia, which helped the group script historical past on the Olympics, Gurjit stated, “I believe that’s my job, and I simply did it. My job is to drag-flick, and I received an opportunity, which I transformed.
“No doubt, there’s my identify on the scoresheet, however that doesn’t imply it was mine alone, it was a group objective.
“Each one of us contributed to it, from the defence line to midfielders, to strikers, who created the penalty corner, and eventually, it was my responsibility to convert it.”