Our Tokyo Olympics efficiency modified our mentality and gave us self perception: Neha Goyal

Neha Goyal, 24, from Sonepat in Haryana, was an integral a part of the first-ever Indian girls’s hockey crew that reached an Olympic semi-final on the 2020 Tokyo Games final month.
Indians missed out on a medal after pushing Great Britain to the sting within the bronze medal match however Neha has some positives to remove from the crew’s historic efficiency within the Tokyo Games.
“Our performance at the Tokyo Olympics has changed our mentality and given us the self belief to take on any team in the world. Our win over Australia in the quarter-final brought about a shift in our mentality. Australia had reached the knockout stage after topping their Pool ‘B’ by winning all their matches. Defeating them by a solitary goal gave us a lot of confidence, which we will carry with us going forward as we prepare to play more important tournaments in the future. Along with a change in our mentality, we have improved our training and fitness levels as well,” Neha informed the indianexpress.com.
Making her Olympic debut stands out as a landmark second for Neha in her fledgling profession.
“I was nervous, but very excited. It has always been my dream to play in the Olympics since I started playing hockey. This was my first time, so I did not take too much pressure upon myself and tried to enjoy the moment. I also gained some confidence in our tours of Argentina and Germany before the Olympics, where I felt that we were able to compete well with some really good teams. In the end, the team performed well, and I was happy with my individual performance over the course of the tournament as well,” added the tenacious, but skilful midfielder.
Moving ahead, Neha’s ambition is to additional polish her particular person recreation in order that she will proceed to contribute to the success of the crew in future competitions. “Our next target is to do well at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in China and the 2022 World Cup next year. I am continuing to work on my own game so I can continue to contribute to the team’s fortunes. As a centre, my job is to be effective on both ends of the field by helping out the defence, as well as the attack. I feel I am a skilful player, and attacking comes more naturally to me, but I want to maintain a balance in my game,” Neha concluded.
The FIH girls’s World Cup will probably be held concurrently in Terrassa, Spain and Amstelveen, the Netherlands from 1 to 17 July, 2022. However, Indian Olympic Association president and FIH chief Narinder Batra stated earlier this month that it’s extremely unlikely that the Indian groups will skip the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a view to hit peak type through the Asiad, which is a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The Birmingham meet is to start from July 28 to August 8 whereas the Asian Games is to start from September 10 to fifteen, the distinction between the 2 tournaments is simply 35 days.