RANCHI: Beauty Dungdung had thought of bidding hockey goodbye last year.
After a brilliant showing in the Nations Cup in 2022, the youngster from Jharkhand came back from a tour to South Africa with the senior team in January last year and had her eyes fixed on playing the Asian Games.
However, tragedy struck as she injured her left knee during the camp in Bengaluru in February and needed an operation. Even as she underwent the procedure in March and was slowly getting back on her feet, her world came crashing down when she got the news that her father had met with an accident sometime during August.
“I came home, stayed with him, then went back to Bengaluru for a week maybe but got the news one morning that he was no more,” said Beauty, trying to hold back her tears.
As she rushed back home one more time, it was then that she started having second thoughts about whether to continue playing or not.
Losing one’s father is always difficult. But to experience this loss at the age of 19 is not something one can ever be prepared for. And for Beauty, who took up the game because of her father, who made her the first hockey stick, it was like the end of the world.
“I just couldn’t decide whether to continue playing or not. My mother is also unwell so the entire situation became too overwhelming. I felt I couldn’t control the situation anymore,” added the youngster.
Anyone in her position would have probably felt the same way. But she had a great coach and even greater teammates who pulled her through and inspired her to keep playing the game that her father Amrush had taught her with his own hands.
“I told Nikki di, Grace di and a few others about what was going on in my mind but they told me to keep playing. They told me things like this happen, that I am still quite young and that I have a long future ahead of me,” said Beauty, a resident of Karangaguri village of Simdega district.
Whatever they said, it worked and she carried on with her recovery. Later she also had sessions during the Asian Champions Trophy with mental conditioning coach Peter Haberl, who taught her ways to focus on the game since she worries a lot about her family.
With all the support she was back to doing what she does best, that is playing hockey, and she went to Valencia in December to take part in the Five Nations tournament – her first official game since the tour to South Africa.
And now she is here in Ranchi to take part in the Olympic Qualifiers in her home state.
Even more exciting for her is that she will get a chance to play in front of her childhood coach Pratima Barwa, under whom she started training in Simdega way back in 2016. “It will be a very special moment to get to play in front of her. She taught me, supported me and inspired me to play this game. Her presence will only help me to give my best on the field,” said the team’s youngest player.
Pratima’s presence will not only boost her confidence but also that of Salima Tete and Sangita Kumari – both of whom had trained under her in Simdega – and that’s exactly what the team will be hoping for over the next seven days.
