India's women's hockey team captain Shushila Chanu sets sights on last 8

New Delhi: India’s women’s hockey team have already entered the sport’s folklore by qualifying for the Rio Games after a gap of 36 years. Now, the new captain of the side Shushila Chanu is looking ahead to make this opportunity count and make history by “reaching the last eight”.

At the Games, India are placed in Pool B alongside Australia, Argentina, USA, Japan and Great Britain. “We can surely beat Japan and USA and give a tough fight to Argentina as we did well recently against them in their own backyard. So, I believe if we give our 100 per cent on the field we can surely reach the quarter-finals,” said Chanu after being named the skipper here on Tuesday.

The 16-member squad, besides two standbys, for the August bound Olympics was announced by Hockey India on Tuesday. The squad is a blend of youth and experience which includes prominent names like Rani Rampal, Deep Grace Ekka, Vandana Katariya, Poonam Rani, Renuka Yadav and captain Chanu.
As expected, Ritu Rani’s name was missing from the list of those selected. Ritu, who has led the team in the last few years, had left the national camp mid way last week after finding her name missing owing to poor form and attitude issues.
Forward Rampal was happy with the team’s composition and proud of the amount of hard work that the girls’ have put in coming this far.

“The team composition is strong. I am happy that Chanu will lead the side as this is the decision made by the coaches the team management,” Rampal said.
Refusing to comment on the controversy involving Ritu and her eventual exclusion, the 24-year-old Chanu feels leading the side in Rio will add on the pressure.

“I am a bit nervous to lead the side in presence of a few seniors in the team. The pressure of expectations from me as an individual will be more as everyone will expect me to perform better and will immediately point a finger at me if I don’t do well. But I will try and play with a free mind,” Chanu assured.