CHENNAI: Salima Tete is 22 with 96 caps for India after making her debut in 2016. She has seen the highs and lows of her national team up close. Sometimes as a part of the squad or as the anxious watcher from the sidelines.
She knows that heartbreaks have not thwarted her team to come on top. So when crowds poured in at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi for the home side's must-win fixture against New Zealand in the FIH Women's Olympic Qualifiers despite India's loss against the United States on Saturday, Tete knew she had to step up.
After not making the starting XI in the first fixture, Tete spun and turned quickly, poured her heart into transitions, and created chances to keep attacking as India registered their first victory in the Olympic qualifiers. It started in a lightning-quick fashion for India when the mid-fielder found Jyoti, who gently passed it to another local player, Sangita, who found the back of the net before the first minute could clock. From thereon, New Zealand went into attacking mode and found a penalty corner as Vaishnavi Phalke's review was declared inconclusive and the penalty stayed. Megan Hull converted that into a much-needed goal for the Blacksticks but that joy didn't last long with Udita converting the penalty to take the lead.
Just before the end of the first quarter, Tete was at it again when she gracefully carried the ball deep into New Zealand's territory with Jyoti, enabling the circle entry before Beauty Dungdung managed to earn the penalty. The last touch came off a New Zealand stick in the end as Janneke Schopman's side took a 3-1 lead in the first quarter and sustained it throughout the match.
However, that didn't stop Tete as she continued to play her role. Even in the last seconds of the fixtures, with victory almost sealed, she was sprinting with the hope of adding one more goal to India's tally, knowing fully well how crucial the goal difference could be in Group B ahead of the final group stage matches on Tuesday. With all four goals of the match coming in the first quarter, what Tete did to create opportunities kept India ahead and Blacksticks couldn't recover.
"We lost the previous match because of our mistakes and today, our individual effort was better. It was a must-win so we played like that. My team expects me to use my speed, and I did that," Tete said after receiving the Player of Match. For now, India are still in the race for the semifinals largely thanks to the relentless 22-year-old who was the star of the show.