GUMLA/RANCHI: 2 girls hockey players out of Jharkhand — Nikki Pradhan out of Khunti district and Salima Tete out of Simdega — were called on Thursday as a part of their Indian girls hockey squad to the Tokyo Olympics that can be scheduled for next month.
The information brought cheers to the whole state, especially one of the sport fraternity, thanks to the sombre surroundings of this Covid-19 pandemic.
This is Nikki’s next stint at Olympics, the very first effort by any female baseball player in Jharkhand.
She was a part of the Indian group from the 2016 Rio Olympics by being the first girl hockey player to signify this manly heartland.
Salima, on the flip side, is that the first female player out of Simdega to create the cut to the Olympic circuit following 40 decades, ” Jharkhand officials explained.
In earlier times only two male baseball players in Simdega — Michael Kindo and Sylvanus Dungdung — participate in Olympics.
“Salima is currently the third baseball player out of Simdega district to represent India at the Olympics.
Michael Kindo was a part of Munich Olympics in 1972 and also Sylvanus Dungdung was a part of this gold-winning Indian group from the 1980 Moscow Olympics,” said a jubilant president of Hockey Simdega, Manoj Konbegi.
Speaking to TOI, Salima stated that she never gives up hope.
“I concentrated on my game and attempted to perform my best throughout training games with different players.
I hail from some distant village in Simdega and’m very happy for making it into the group.
I’d love to thank my family for believing in me” Salima, combined with Nikki along with their mates, is in the Centre of Excellence for Hockey in Bengaluru.
Especially, Salima captained the federal women’s side that won silver in the 2018 Youth Olympics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated the group for their functionality.
Nikki, on the flip side, stated dealing with the pandemic was demanding but she’s pleased to have stayed free of any disease since March this past year.
“I took my vaccine doses,” she explained over the telephone, including that during their stint in the Bengaluru center since this past yearthey stayed confined to their own coaching center.
“Not one of us ventured from the training center for more than a year now because of fear of disease.
All staff stayed in the camp, keeping appropriate protocols both on and off the field.
It is frustrating sometimes, but we could not afford to shed attention.
The actual battle begins today,” Nikki stated, adding that she’d come back to her residence (Ranchi) just several times in the past month.
“Fortunately, my family , also, stayed free of Covid-19 up to now,” she explained.
Asked about the group’s preparedness, Nikki stated,”The group is in great form however unlike the pre-Covid age, we could not play vulnerability matches to enhance our abilities.
However, the support team of this team is extremely great in keeping us having a great state of mind.
We’re also practising hard” Jharkhand Hockey president Bholanath Singh stated,”We had faith in the the women they would be chosen for the Olympics.
They were performing well at the national group for the past couple of decades.” (With inputs from ASRP Mukesh)