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Ahead of her team's Women's Asian Champions Trophy campaign opener against Thailand, Indian hockey player Deep Grace Ekka said that the presence of the home crowd will serve as a motivation and the team is trying to rectify the mistakes it made during its Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou.
India will kickstart its Asian Champions Trophy campaign against Thailand on Friday in Ranchi. India won the title once in 2016 and the defending champions are Japan. Thailand's best finish is the fourth-place finish in 2021. Three-time champions South Korea, China and Malaysia are also taking part in the tournament. Ahead of the match, Deep talked to ANI about the tournament, Olympic qualifiers to be played in India and the Asian Games campaign. On playing the tournament in India, she said, "We have played very less of our international tournaments in India. We are excited to play in our country. It is a big deal that the tournament is happening in our country. After the Asian Games, we are getting one more chance to show up a great performance, and learn from our mistakes." "It would be advantageous for us (the home support). It motivates us too. The stadiums are full and crowds cheering us keeps us motivated," she added. On preparations about the event, she said that they have been fine so far. "Preparations have been fine so far. Players were at camp in Bengaluru and came to Ranchi on 22nd October. We are trying to learn from our mistakes and implement a better game," she said. On playing top sides like South Korea and Japan and chalking out strategies for them, Deep said that nobody can be ruled out from doing well. "We have played a lot with other teams. We cannot rule out other teams from performing. Whoever plays well for those 60 mins is a winner. For us, our performances matter the most," she said. On the Olympic qualifiers, which will be held for women's hockey in India from January 13 to 19 in Ranchi, Deep said that the team is looking forward to perform well in all its upcoming matches and looking at areas to improve. On missing out on direct qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics via a gold medal at the Asian Games Hangzhou and settling for bronze, the player said that the team is learning from its mistakes. "We practised hard in Bengaluru, we wanted to qualify for the Olympics directly. But it is sports after all. It (losses) happens. We will try to learn from our mistakes and rectify them. First, the focus is on Champions Trophy, then Olympic qualifiers," she concluded. (ANI)
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