Olympics 2024 | With a tinge of hurt, Salima eyes Los Angeles glory

Bengaluru: An uneasy calm prevails at the hockey facility following the Olympic-preparation frenzy that had engulfed the Sports Authority of India, South Centre here. All the attention and noise is around the Indian men’s hockey team, which was stationed at the facility for months in the run-up to the Games, in Paris.

All things being equal, their female counterparts too would have been at the Yves du Manoir stadium going all-out to better their fourth place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Instead the Indian women’s hockey team, which suffered setbacks in both quota-earning events, the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year and FIH Olympic qualifiers in Ranchi early this year, are left behind to watch all the action unfolding 7,844 kms away via I-Pads and television. 

“We miss being there. Yeah, but..,” says Salima Tete whose smile fails to mask her disappointment. 

“Yes. Bilkul kharab lagthi hai, magar isse hum bahut kuch seek bhi sakthe hai. (It feels absolutely terrible but we can learn a lot from the situation we are in). It was our (players) mistake that we couldn’t secure an Olympic berth. Even after working hard we fell short, maybe we didn't deserve to be there this time or call it bad luck, I don’t know. But next time kuch bhi hojaye (come what may), we will qualify. That is our target,” assures the newly-appointed captain of the national women’s squad. 

The 22-year-old from a village in Simega district in Jharkhand was handed the responsibility of leading the team in May before the European leg of the Pro Hockey League. At first glance, it might seem like a huge burden put on her young shoulders, especially at a transitional period the team is faced with currently.

However, given the arduous journey she has made from an little-known tribal setting to establishing herself as a feared midfielder in world hockey, the choice of making Salima the leader looks justified. 

“I won’t lie, I was nervous as a first-time captain in Europe. But constant conversations with seniors such as Savita (Punia) and Navneet (Kaur) has helped me immensely.”

The Youth Olympic Games silver medallist, who made her senior debut in 2017 as a 15-year-old with 107 caps to her credit so far, is the face of the 33-member group at the ongoing two-month national camp led by coach Harendra Singh. Salima along with a few senior players and a big chunk of youngsters are toiling hard at SAI to change the fortunes of the side that has been written-off. 

“We are developing the fitness of the team as a whole. Fitness wasn’t really a weak link but we hadn’t worked on it as much as we are now. Hockey is becoming faster with each passing day. So we need to keep up with the pace at which the sport is being played in modern times.

“For us, each session every single day is extremely important. And all the players understand that we cannot afford to take anything for granted. We have four years. There is no ‘we will do it tomorrow’ or wasting five minutes during training,” offers Salima. 

The first two big targets on this road to the 2028 Olympics, she says, is making it to the semifinal stage of the women’s World Cup and winning a medal at the next Asian Games - both in 2026. 

“Until then, we will put our head down, accept where we are now and strive to build a strong team,” she says.

The joy of Tokyo is history while the disappointment of Paris is firmly behind them. Now, Salima and Co are fueled by the earnest desire to become top contenders at the Los Angeles Olympics.