KURUKSHETRA: After India women’s hockey team lost in a close contest to Britain in the bronze medal match at Tokyo Olympics, father of Indian team captain Rani Rampal said that the talent that our daughters have shown is excellent and it is not a defeat but he will term it as a victory.
“The journey up to the semifinal match in the Tokyo Olympics is a saga of India’s daughters which will inspire the coming generations. The new players will work to write history from this inspiration and the guidance. It is not a defeat but a victory as the girls did not lose hope till the last”, said Rani’s father Rampal while speaking at his residence in Shahabad town of Kurukshetra.
Father of hockey player Navjot Kaur, Satnam Singh and of Navneet Kaur, Buta Singh also appreciated the game played by their daughters. “These daughters of Shahabad will be welcomed in the similar fashion as they would have been welcomed after winning a medal. They will return on August 10 and Shahabad and Haryana will welcome them.”
Rampal said that although he is a heart patient and when the Indian team scored two goals in the opening round of the match, his heartbeat kept on fluctuating but he watched the match completely.
“The game of daughters was so exciting that I did not go away from the TV screen. I had a passion to make Rani a player and there was also a mountain of poverty as well. But my passion and the hard work of Rani have written a new history in the Olympics today. When she started hockey, I had to listen and suffer a lot. But without caring for anyone, I handed over a hockey stick to my daughter,” said Rampal.
The family members of the three players Rampal, Satnam Singh and Buta Singh said that the state government has encouraged them by announcing an amount of Rs 50 lakh for each hockey player who went to the Olympics.
They said that the government is doing better for the players as compared to the past and this would encourage new players as well.
At the same time, in the house of player Navjot Kaur, the sobs of the family members were heard regarding the match. However, Navjot Kaur's mother Manjeet Kaur left the room in tears in the final moments of the match. But later Navjot's father Satnam Singh and mother Manjeet Kaur interacted with their daughter and encouraged her and praised her excellent game.
