Learnt a great deal from Argentina and Germany tours, asserts Navjot Kaur

The Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which was their first appearance at the Games since 1980. In spite of the feat, the eves crashed out in the group stages itself, having lost five matches and shared points in the remaining one.

Four years down the line, the team has already made the cut to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is in better shape than they were ahead of the Rio Games. Rani Rampal and Co. recently went to exposure tours in Germany and Argentina as a part of preparations for the mega-event. Navjot Kaur, who plays as a forward, admitted that they have learnt a great deal from the tours, even though they failed to win a game during the same.

"Of course, the results were not what we had desired against Argentina. Otherwise, I would say our performances, both individually and as a team, was good, be it against Argentina or Germany. We actually learnt a huge deal from these tours,” said Navjot Kaur, as reported by IANS.

"We also got a better understanding about how top sides in the world prepare for games, and aspects that we can fine-tune as a unit. There is a big difference between the top three sides and the rest of the world. All of us became a lot more aware of our overall game, and where we need to get better," she added.

India has been pitted with the likes of Argentina, Australia, Japan, Spain and New Zealand in Group A of the Women’s Hockey event at the 2021 Tokyo Games. With few months left for the showdown, the players are now working on their weaknesses in the ongoing national camp that concludes on April 7.

"We implemented what we had worked on during our training sessions over the past year. Now, there are a few things that we are working on in camp; in defence and in attack. The fact that we could hold our own against some of the top sides in the world will help us immensely going into the Olympics,” explained the hockey star.