Senior team exposure helped junior girls: India hockey coach Maharaj Kaushik

Rani Rampal was the lynchpin of the junior women’s team at the Junior World Cup. She scored one goal in regulation time, and converted both her spot-kicks during the bronze-medal playoffs against England

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Senior men’s hockey coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik has praised the junior girls for their historic World Cup bronze medal and attributed the success to their exposure with the senior team.

India beat England 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out Sunday after the teams had ended 1-1 in regulation time in the German city of Monchengladbach and lifted their first World Cup medal.

Of the 18 members, 13 have been a part of the core probables in the senior team and that is what worked for India, said Kaushik, also a former women’s coach.

“Most of them have been a part of the senior squad so that has given them ample experience,” Kaushik told IANS.

“Except for the Odisha girls, everyone else has been in the senior squad for quite sometime and that has given them crucial exposure,” said the Olympic gold medallist.

Former India men’s hockey captain Pargat Singh also applauded the girls but felt more needed to be done to improve their performances.

“It is a good beginning. We should encourage these girls further and provide them with whatever they need to be the best,” Pargat Singh told IANS.

“In women’s hockey a proper mechanism is yet to be established. It is necessary to give these girls job security so that they can put all their focus on the sport,” he said.

Pargat Singh also pointed out that corporates need to play a larger role in the development of the sport among women.

“Corporates should come forward to promote women’s hockey. They have a liability,” he opined.

Punjab has been a hotbed for both men and women hockey players but in the junior bronze winning team, only two girls were part of the Chandigarh state team.

Addressing the situation, Pargat Singh said: “We still produce a lot of hockey players but we are losing our players to teams like Railways because we are not able to provide any job security. I hope this scenario changes soon.”