2 days ago
Manipur's Suman eager to cement her place in the Indian women's hockey team
As the Indian women's hockey team begins their European leg of FIH Pro League against Australia at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre in London on Saturday, one player who will be more than eager to showcase her skills is Manipur's Suman Devi Thoudam.
After breaking into the senior team as a teenager way back in 2017 during a Test series against Belarus in Bhopal under the then coach Sjoerd Marijne, she went onto play 12 matches including the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy where India finished second behind South Korea. She played few more games after that but couldn't ever cement her place in the squad and last played during the 2022 Pro League against the Netherlands in Bhubaneswar.
However, she has made a comeback into the squad after three years and made her presence felt during India's tour of Australia last month where the Harendra Singh-coached side played five matches and won one.
Speaking about her return, Suman said, "During the first game, I felt a bit nervous. But I had played under Harendra sir earlier and he gave me a lot of confidence. Sushila Chanu has also supported me a lot at the camp."
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And the person who was the happiest seeing her return to the team was her father. A hockey player himself during his youth at the local club level, Thoudam Anand Singh used to wear his daughter's jersey and proudly stroll around the neighbourhood. "He stopped doing it though after I was dropped from the team. He had told me then that he would wear them after I made it to the team again," added Suman.
A carpenter by profession till a few years back, Anand, hopefully, has started wearing them now and will be watching the Pro League games from Imphal home, where he resides along with his wife.
However, this remarkable return wouldn't have been possible but for the coaches at National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Delhi, who gave Suman all the support she needed.
"After I was dropped from the squad, I trained hard and worked a lot on my fitness but never did I feel that hockey was over for me. I obviously felt sad but I kept telling myself that I have enough time in my hands to make a comeback," added Suman, who also landed a job in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in 2022, much to the relief of her family.
This struggle though wasn't anything compared to when she first came to Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy in 2014 and struggled to get accustomed. "I couldn't understand Hindi even a bit, I used to feel nervous and scared, felt like crying and wanted to go back home," recollected the defender, who also led the U-21 side in two invitational meets in 2019.
Luckily she persevered and today she has another chance to prove to everybody what she is capable of. And what better opponents to do it against than Australia.
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