Nitish Sharma
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, August 2
A brave Indian women’s hockey team stunned three-time champions and world no.2 Australia to enter the Olympic Games semifinals for the first time.
Three members - skipper Rani Rampal, Navjot and Navneet- of the team belong to Shahabad town of Kurukshetra.
The family members are elated with their performances and are hoping that the girls will return with an Olympic medal.
Rampal, father of Skipper Rani Rampal, said, “We have been getting messages and people are reaching our house to congratulate us. We were clueless about hockey. She was youngest of the three siblings. She showed her interest after seeing other players practicing near her school in Shahabad. The financial condition was not good and we were reluctant initially as the community members were also not happy with our decision of letting her play. She is confident of winning the upcoming matches too. When she left she said that she will come back with a medal. I urge all the fathers to treat their daughters as equal to their sons. Let them play and they will make you proud.”
Satnam Singh, father of forward player Navjot Kaur, said, “She was around 11-year-old when she started practicing. I had never imagined that she will be playing in such an intense Olympics match. People are congratulating us and we are hopeful that the girls will return with Olympic medal. Navjot is eldest of the three siblings.”
Satnam Singh, who is a shocker mechanic by profession, said, “Australia was undoubtedly a strong team and the girls have played bravely against the strong opponents.”
Buta Singh, Navneet’s father, an agriculturist by occupation, said “She started playing when she was 7-year-old. We are happy with the performances of the girls and we have been getting messages from everywhere. In the beginning we thought it is going to be tough match as they were playing against world-2 ranking team but the way they have played was commendable. They will be now playing against Argentina in the semifinal on Wednesday. We are confident that the team will return with a gold medal in the Olympics.”
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