Indian women’s hockey team forward Navneet Kaur on Monday admitted that her side lacked in finishing in the World Cup and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and that is one area which needs improvement in the future tournaments.
The team produced a disappointing performance in the FIH women’s World Cup in jointly cos-hosted by Spain and the Netherlands in July, failing to even reach the quarterfinals. But the Indian women won a bronze in Birmingham, its first medal at the CWG in 16 years.
“We are working on improving our team coordination. We are also working on our finishing as a squad so that we are extremely clinical when the chances come our way which was the only area, we lacked in at the World Cup and CWG 2022,” Navneet said.
“As a squad we have identified these areas and have already started working on improving them so that we are ready before the next tournament comes around,” she said in a Hockey India release.
Navneet, who was an important member of the Indian attack at the quadrennial sporting event, spoke about the team’s future ambitions and how she sees herself playing a bigger role in the squad moving forward.
“The medal at the CWG brought us great joy as a team, even though our team was feeling a little down after the loss in the semifinal,” said the player from Haryana, who has played more than 100 matches for India.
“It was special to see that everyone in the squad motivated each other to concentrate on the bronze medal game and you could feel the togetherness of the squad as we got laser focused for the bronze medal tie. That moment was really surreal, especially for me.” The 26-year-old said the team is fully focused on the upcoming competitions.
“The young players have settled into the team really well and their integration in the squad is going smoothly, the best part of which is that young players are getting so many opportunities in international competitions which will help them improve in very little time.” She also talked about the areas she is looking to improve moving forward as a player.
“I need to improve on my situational awareness, so that I get better at controlling the ball and in turn get better at controlling the tempo of the game, because then I can play at my pace and choose moments in the game to either slow the tempo down or raise it according to the situation.
“As a senior player now, I look to help the youngsters with everything and anything on and off the field. We talk freely off the field and encourage open discussions,” Navneet said.
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