The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams returned to India from Hangzhou after a successful campaign at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 and were greeted with rapturous applause from the fans present at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
The Indian men’s hockey team won the gold medal and the women’s team claimed the Bronze medal in Hangzhou.
Late Monday night, the enthusiastic hockey fans in the national capital gathered at the airport to welcome their heroes who made the country proud with their splendid performance in the biggest tournament of the year. The emotional fans surrounded the hockey stars as the officials presented the teams with sweets and garlands among other tokens of appreciation.
The family members of hockey players were also among the gathering at the airport. The hockey players too enjoyed the warm atmosphere and expressed their delight in witnessing the rising appreciation of the sport once again in the country.
“This journey has been amazing. We went to Hangzhou with the mindset of being Asia’s best team and we wanted to play accordingly. We kept improving match-by-match which built our confidence, and we came back with the result we desired,” said captain Harmanpreet Singh.
The Indian men’s hockey team ended the 9-year wait for the Asian Games Gold medal in Hangzhou. Led by captain Harmanpreet, India claimed the gold medal defeating Japan 5-1 in the final, and confirmed their spot for the 2024 Tokyo Olympics.
This was India’s fourth gold medal in men’s field hockey at the Asian Games. India had previously won the gold medal in 1966, 1998, and 2014.
“Seeing the gathering of fans here further gives us the motivation to now focus on the preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics. We have time, we will work on the areas where we need to improve upon and we will do our best to convert the Olympic Bronze to Gold,” added Harmanpreet.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s hockey team, too, earned a Bronze medal and a podium finish in Hangzhou, claiming their 7th medal in the Asian Continental tournament.
Delighted by the presence of fans on arrival, the Indian women’s team expressed their gratitude and said that the team is further motivated to continue to do better in the coming year.
“It is always a moment of pride for parents when they see us return home with medals in major competitions. It is great to see all the support here and I thank the fans as they motivate us to continue to do even better. I also feel happy for young players as they are witnessing this moment for the first time in their careers and it will be a memorable experience for them,” skipper Savita said.
The Indian women’s team will now compete in the FIH Olympics Qualifiers to earn qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Though our target was to win Asian Games Gold, we are happy with our performance in Hangzhou. We are eager to earn a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics as our target is to get a podium finish in Paris. We will begin training for the Qualifiers soon, and work on certain areas where we could have done better. It is great to see the continuing support of women’s hockey in the country and we want to continue to make the nation proud,” Savita signed off.