Asian Champions Trophy: Savita Punia and Co know they were poor against China in Hangzhou, now they get a chance for a do-over | Hockey News

At Gate No 1 of the hockey Stadium in Ranchi, there is the regular tournament branding but it is impossible to miss what is next to it: a roughly 20-feet cutout of India captain Savita Punia. The goalkeeper who has stood tall between the posts many a time in the recent years, is literally doing so at the venue of the Asian Champions Trophy.
“Haan dekha,”(yes, saw) Savita tells The Indian Express with a sheepish smile when shown a photo of it. “I have never seen anything like this for myself before. Hockey India posted a video and my brother saw the cutout and called me. Even my family knows how I am not comfortable with these things. But it’s good of course, that there is a regard. However this is not something like a thing to celebrate. If it was a cutout of our team I would have perhaps gone and looked at it more closely. Akela kuch bhi nahi hota hai. (Nothing happens on your own).”
On Monday night, she would have to stand tall once again and she would need her teammates to step up as the hosts take on Asian Games gold medalls China in a fascinating clash. What counts as a good time for a dish to be best served cold? Because, it was only October 5 that these two sides faced each other in Hangzhou in a semifinal that ended in heartbreak for India.
“Bilkul bhi accha nahi tha, we never thought we would give such a performance,” Savita says recalling that defeat. “We were well prepared, ready to give our best. Irrespective of how well China played, every one of the 18 members missed something that day. We didn’t play as well as we did the next match against Japan, if we had played that way, we would have made it difficult for China too. None of us were up to the mark, of course no one does it on purpose, but you look at us training extra here, we wanted to do even better in Hangzhou. We spoke about it, and in the next match, we will try to help each other.”
India lost 0-4 on that day before defeating Japan to clinch bronze. But that was only consolation. This team went to China looking for gold, and they have not for once shied away from admitting that they were poor that day. Any result on Monday won’t make up for the defeat but it will be a chance to show – to the followers of this team, but more to themselves – that the performance that day was exception rather than the norm against arguably Asia’s most improved hockey team.Most Read
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Alysson Annan, the decorated Aussie player and a coach who has won everything there is to be won over her career in both facets, has overseen a remarkable rise for the Chinese women that has seen them clinch a spot for Paris 2024. A strong support staff (that includes the legendary Ric Charlesworth too) and a young and hungry team, along with lot of competitive match time, have seen China emerge as perhaps the team to beat in Asia. They are here with five changes to the squad from Hangzhou, and lost the first match against Korea. But bounced back to beat Thailand 6-0 and will be looking to impress once again.
“We know we can play a lot better than we did at the Asian Games against China,” chief coach Janneke Schopman said on Saturday. “It is now a matter of just doing what we are capable of, getting out of our mind, and putting it on the field. I am personally very excited to show up for this. I am excited, I really want us to play our game… the big disappointment to me was that we didn’t do that in Hangzhou.”
After the win against Malaysia, Schopman said she strongly believes, given enough time, India have the talent to be top three in the world. On the day before the match, Annan said she wants China to now target a podium in Paris. These are two Asian teams on the rise, potentially entering an interesting period of rivalry too on multiple counts. And it will make for a fascinating contest on Monday.