Receiving India jersey from her mother in front of all her teammates was special: Sonika Loktej Sports News

Bengaluru, September 11 (Hindustan). A special farewell ceremony ‘Sunhera Safar’ organized by Hockey India before the Hangzhou Asian Games was quite memorable for Indian player Sonika, as she received the Indian team jersey at the event by her mother. The Asian Games are scheduled to be held from 23 September 2023 to 8 October 2023.

“It was really a special moment to receive the India jersey from my mother in front of all my teammates. Those few minutes on the stage reflected all my struggles and the challenges I faced to get here,” Sonika was quoted as saying by Hockey India. It brought back memories and the special thing is that during this time my mother was also present on the stage, who has been equally involved in this journey and has always supported me at every important juncture.

The midfielder from Hisar, Haryana made her senior team debut in the Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand in 2016. She was part of the team that won the gold medal at the Women’s Asia Cup in 2017 and competed at the Tokyo event in 2019. However, after this his rising career came to an end. In 2020, he had to leave the national camp to improve his mental condition during Covid.

He said, “The COVID lockdown was not good for me. It was a difficult phase personally and I am very happy that my struggle to stay mentally strong through this phase was recognized very early by the team management and I was provided professional help. I am very grateful to Hockey India and my teammates for giving me this break.”

After returning to the national team in the FIH Hockey Pro League in 2021/22 following a strong performance at that year’s National Championships, Sonika has only progressed in her career. She has been a regular feature of the team, playing a role in their historic bronze medal win at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as well as the title win at the FIH Nations Cup 2022.

He said, “I am extremely excited and looking forward to playing in my first Asian Games. I have worked very hard to reach this stage in my career and have achieved good results at major events like the CWG, which has helped the team perform well. Very confident about Hockey India’s golden journey. After Hockey India’s golden journey, we are more motivated to bring glory to the country as well as our family. Our focus is completely on winning gold and qualifying for Paris Olympics 2024. “

India has been placed in Pool A for the Asian Games along with Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. The Indian team will start its campaign against Singapore on 27th September.