With her powerful physique and height, Gurjit Kaur could have excelled in any of the myriad sports that Punjab athletes pursue.
It was her being sent to Kairon (one of Punjab’s famous women’s hockey nurseries) for studies that saw her pick up the stick. But it wasn’t easy. First coming into the national camp in 2014, Gurjit could not break into the national team for the next three years before breaking through in spectacular fashion at the 2017 Asia Cup, being India’s top scorer with eight goals and helping the team to the title past favourites China and Japan.
Since then, she has become a permanent fixture in the side and her drag-flicks have only improved, giving the women’s team a lethal scoring option it had been missing badly all these years ever since Jasjit Kaur left the national scene a few years ago.
The Asia Cup triumph also helped the team qualify for the 2018 World Cup but more importantly, it stamped Gurjit as a big-match player, her best coming in crunch situations in the semifinal and the final.
Gurjit has kept improving her flicks and cleaning up her defensive skills this year, impressing at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, with a lot of credit to coach Sjoerd Marijne who has made her switch to a heavier stick and also arranged sessions with Dutchman Toon Siepman for minor changes in posture and positioning.
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