BENGALURU: Defender Manpreet Kaur, who is currently a part of the senior core probable group of the Indian women's hockey team, is focussing on doing the basic rights in order to find a place in the national side.
Over the past few years, there has been no dearth of talent when it comes to the Indian eves. The world number nine side has a huge pool of players who are yet to play for the senior team, but have already gained useful experience and exposure representing the junior team around the world.
"I am so happy and proud to be a part of the senior core probables group, and to have this opportunity to play and work with the best players from India. My ambition has always been to represent my country at the highest level, and having done so at the junior level, my next milestone is to represent the senior team soon," said Kaur.
"It is obviously something that is not in my hands, but I want to focus on everything that is in my hands. I want to put my 100 per cent effort and hard work into getting myself ready for the time when I get the chance. I am really happy that we've had such great support and planning from Hockey India and SAI with regards to the exposure that I've been able to get at the junior level, even without having played for the senior team yet," the talented defender from Haryana added.
Winner of the bronze medal at the 4th Girls U18 Asia Cup 2016 held in Bangkok, Thailand, the 22-year-old recalled it as her most memorable tournament.
"I was really young back then, only 17 and it was such a big occasion for us to be representing the country at the continent's most important tournament at the junior level. I remember how amazingly everyone in the team performed and I thought we were unfortunate to not make it to the final, but the 3-0 victory in the bronze medal match against Republic of Korea made it worth it," said Kaur.