Beauty Dungdung enjoying her return to international hockey at the FIH Olympic Qualifiers. Loktej Sports News

Ranchi, 15 January (HS). Indian women’s hockey team midfielder Beauty Dungdung has returned to the national team in the ongoing FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier Ranchi 2024.

Hosts India, who are placed in Pool B, recorded an emphatic 3-1 win over New Zealand in their second match of the competition on Sunday, with Udita and Sangeeta Kumari along with Beauty Dungdung also scoring a goal. After losing 0-1 to the United States in their opening match on Saturday, the crucial win over the Black Sticks has given India a confidence boost ahead of their final pool game against Italy on January 16.

The beauty, who last played for India in Test matches against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2023, said she is enjoying her return to the team and is happy to contribute to India’s win on Sunday. Was able to.

“I am enjoying my return to the team,” she said. It has been a long time since I have been a part of the team. So, it feels good that I was able to return to the team after the injury and contribute to the team’s victory.

The 21-year-old player suffered a major injury in early February last year and had to undergo surgery in March. The beauty opened up about the tough rehabilitation period and how the support from her teammates and coaching staff kept her motivated.

“A week after the operation, I started the rehabilitation process,” he said. I was experiencing pain but I kept motivating myself. I was regularly doing physiotherapy exercises, which were recommended to me by the medical staff. I realized that it required a lot of attention. “As long as you have that mentality of coming back, it makes it even harder.”

He said, “Everyone supported me a lot during this period. This was the first time I was injured, so I was quite nervous. Our head coach Janneke Schopman motivated me and told me that every player learns from injury, what else they can improve in their game and how to become mentally stronger. I realized that if your mind is strong, it helps increase your focus on your game.

The beauty, who hails from Simdega district, also expressed her happiness at getting the opportunity to compete in the Olympic qualifiers in front of the home crowd. The top three teams of the tournament will book berths for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Beauty said he is hopeful that India will earn a berth for the prestigious event.

He said, “I am happy that this is an Olympic qualifier and I am getting a chance to play in front of my home crowd and my state. I am used to playing here, so it has been relatively easy for me to get used to the conditions here. I am excited because my friends and family members also get to watch my matches.” He further admitted that playing in the home state adds pressure and talked about how the team prepares for the mental aspects of the game. .

“There is always pressure because I am playing a big tournament straight after the injury,” she said. But if we allow this pressure to dominate our minds, it will increase our struggles. Our team does yoga and mindfulness exercises every day which relaxes us. Our aim is not to take any pressure before any match and always give our best performance.” When asked about the team’s strategies before the next match, Beauty said that her team will not take any team lightly.

“All teams in the competition are equally tough,” he said. We do not take any competitor lightly. Italy have performed well and shown that they will not make it easy for any opponent. We will study their game and try to hold on to our strength and hope that we can get a positive result.” India will face Italy on July 16, 2024 at 19:30 IST.