For India, a bronze to remember
After a gap of 16 years, the women's hockey team returned to the Commonwealth Games podium.
Eighteen seconds to the clock and a bronze medal, India gave away a penalty stroke to New Zealand resulting from a penalty corner. On the sidelines, coach Janneke Schopman gave a blink-and-you-miss-it sign to goalkeeper Savita Punia to go left for the stroke. She did. Olivia Merry went to the right. New Zealand equalized for 1-1.
Schopman’s hunch was off the mark. Her message in the huddle before the shootout wasn't.
“I told the girls, ‘fine, we will do it the hard way. It’s what we're used to’,” the coach said.
Two evenings ago in the semi-final, the Indians stared into the abyss as Australia won the shootout after their first attempt, saved by Savita, was retaken due to the clock not going off.
On a brighter Sunday morning, half of India's players rushed to hug Savita, a few of them hugged each other, the rest with Schopman. Soon, they all blended into one big embrace.
The Indian women's hockey team had won the shootout 2-1 for the 2022 CWG bronze, their third medal at these Games and an uptick from the fourth-place finish in 2018.
Hull Megan converted the Black Sticks’ first attempt before Savita shook it off to flick the final two away with the count frozen on it. By then, Sonika (2nd attempt) and Navneet Kaur (3rd attempt) had put India ahead. Just as they were right through the match till the final minute after Salima Tete’s goal in the 29th minute.
Celebrating in that huddle, the players lifted their coach, who was down to tears. A first for Schopman, the former Dutch player who would always wonder why her team-mates cried after winning.
“But you know what, we've come a long way. I feel like we were so close every time and it was so, so hard for the girls to pick themselves up again. To be positive again. To fight again. For me, it was the relief and the emotions that they finally got rewarded. And they deserve it,” she said.
The Indian women’s team had walked along the progression path over the last couple of years, without too much to show in return. The fourth-place Tokyo Olympics finish won hearts yet not a medal, after all. Finishing third in the FIH Pro League this year was a nice uplift before the ninth spot at the World Cup leading into the CWG dragged them down again.
The results weren’t matching the work they put in and the hockey they dished out, the consensus among the players and coach was. The team had been on the road since early June, and another fought-well chapter of winning hearts yet losing medals would have been hard to swallow.
“This medal is very, very important for us,” captain Savita said. “At every step, we missed out by a close margin. Maybe we weren't there, but we knew we had played a good brand of attacking hockey.”
There’s still a lot put together in that brand—like quality finishing in front of the goal and penalty corner conversations. But that’s for a little later. For now, with the bronze around, the players are longing for a belated home visit after a long ride of more downs than ups.
“What stood out all through this was the incredible ability to keep fighting,” Schopman said. “I sometimes had to remind them. I’ve seen it again time and again when you don’t get the results you want that everyone starts blaming each other and they fall apart. This team stayed together and fought together.”
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