The Indian senior women’s hockey team have surely given us a lot of ‘hope’ if their opening Olympic match against higher-ranked Japan is anything to go by. The 13th ranked national eves rallied from a 0-2 deficit at half-time to script a hard-fought 2-2 draw against 10th ranked Japan – an effort which should stand them in good stead for the tough pool games ahead.
And one woman, who had seen it all about the ‘Olympic stage’ featuring in the 1980 Moscow Olympics – the last time Indian women took part in the Olympics, Rekha Bhide, is excited to see the girls deliver a robust performance in their first game.
“I’m really happy to see the Indian women players display so much grit. They look really motivated under coach Neil Hawgood and I won’t be a surprise if they go on to cause some upsets in the upcoming matches,” says the former right-half, who was the vice-captain of the Moscow Olympics team.
The Arjuna Awardee, who retired from Railways earlier this year, is upbeat about the Indian women team’s medal chances. “The girls have worked really hard and they deserve something big. They have the game to go the distance,” Bhide gushes.
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Walking down memory lane, Bhide, who had played in over 200 internationals, including the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, rewinds some of the Moscow memories. “I still remember like the men’s event, the women’s event also had six teams in Moscow. We had beaten most teams easily in practice games in the run-up to the Olympics. We won against Poland and Austria and lost to the Czech Republic. I thought the Soviet Union was the only tough side in Moscow,” she recalls.
Bhide revealed an interesting happening during the Moscow Olympics. “Before the Olympics started we were told the league stage will be followed by semifinals and the final, but such a format was not played and we finished fourth in the league phase behind Zimbabwe, Czech Republic and Soviet Union.”.
Surely, the encouraging words from this former Olympian will boost the Indian women hockey team for the upcoming matches in the Rio Olympics.
