Bengaluru, November 5: The Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal, who led India's title triumph at the Women's Asia Cup in Kakamigahara, Japan, was delighted that the team had qualified for the World Cup on merit.
Golden Rani strikes at the death
Rani scored the winning goal after goalkeeper Savita's commendable save to help India defeat China 5-4 in sudden death. The scores were 1-1 in regulation time. The win ensured that India qualified for the World Cup in London next year as the continental champions.
"We are all extremely happy that we won the Asia Cup and have earned the qualification for next year's World Cup on merit," Rani. "We had a lot of young players in the team who showed great spirit in playing on such a big platform. The team gave a good fight to China and China too played equally well today and the match went into penalty shootout."
Thanks to all my teammates, @HarendraSingh66 sir, support staff, @TheHockeyIndia for their support & guidance in winning #AsiaCup2017 pic.twitter.com/LANZwtbM7L
— Rani Rampal (@imranirampal) November 5, 2017
Congratulations to our hockey team on winning the Women's #AsiaCup2017. India is delighted by their stellar performance.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 5, 2017
Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur was exceptional in the tournament for India, accounting for eight of India's 25 goals in the event. Navjot Kaur struck five and Navneet Kaur scored four goals for the team. Rani herself scored thrice in the tournament, but her penalty stroke under pressure in the sudden death was the one which sealed the title for India.
"It was high level competition and we did not drop our level at any point in the game. Savita made a brilliant save in sudden death and I am happy I could convert that goal in sudden death. The win was a result of a lot of hard work through this entire year and also the efforts of our coaching staff."
Congratulations Team India on winning the Women's #AsiaCup2017 final. You have made us proud
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 5, 2017
It was, in fact, Harendra Singh's first competitive tournament as the coach of the women's team. Harendra, who had guided the Under-21 side to a junior World Cup last November, took charge after Sjoerd Marijne, the then women's coach, was handed Roelant Oltman's job as the men's team head coach.
Under Marijne, the women's team had a disappoiting outing at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they finished eighth. However, Rani insisted the Asian title will only motivate the girls to do better in bigger tournaments next year.
Really proud of our women. 2 weeks ago our men won the title beating Malaysia & now our women beat China. @TheHockeyIndia #AsiaCup2017 pic.twitter.com/BJKrpScMTy
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) November 5, 2017
"We were not happy with our performance in Johannesburg at the World League Semi-Final and right then, the team had decided that we need to start winning in order to gain that confidence to perform well in top tournaments," Rani said. "We worked a lot on creating PCs and Gurjit (Kaur) worked hard on converting PCs during our camps. We were also well-prepared for a shootout situation as we were anticipating the knockouts to end in shootout. All the preparation helped us today."
Pride..Achievement..Honour..Our Indian Hockey Women team defined it for us..#AsiaCup2017 👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/YEBeSYAXCD
— Yami Gautam (@yamigautam) November 5, 2017
India last won an Asia Cup title in 2004, where they beat Japan 1-0 in Delhi. Rani, however, feels it's a new chapter in Indian hockey as they completed a double of Asian Cup triumphs for India with even the men clinching the title in Malaysia two weeks ago.
"This win motivates us to do better and better," Rani added. "Hopefully we will carry this confidence and motivation into the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year. Finally now that we have won, there is going to be a lot of dancing and celebrations back in the hotel."
Congratulations Hockey India 🇮🇳 women on the superb win against China 🇨🇳 at the Asia Cup !#AsiaCup2017
— Babita Phogat (@BabitaPhogat) November 5, 2017
Amazing game....Congratulations to Indian Women Hockey team on winning the #AsiaCup2017. You have filled our hearts with joy & pride. pic.twitter.com/hIY0MZgeN6
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 5, 2017