Sangita Kumari shares how playing for Junior India helped him gain experience for the senior team

Indian Women’s Hockey team’s youngster Sangita Kumari is the new sensation making a name for herself every time she was called up to the national camp. Sangita’s performances for the Junior Indian team saw her earn a senior callup in India’s double headed clash against Spain at the FIH Hockey Pro League in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The young striker has been sensational in her debut and even scored a brilliant goal for the Indian Eves. The striker from Jharkhand believes that this is only the beginning for Sangita Kumari who needs to develop a lot to be a first-team regular. “I was very excited and also nervous making my Senior India debut but I think what helped me was the exposure I had received in the Junior India team over the past few years. Also, training with the Senior group has been a completely different experience. I have learnt a lot over these past few months and I feel this is only the beginning for me,” stated the India forward.

Sangita came into the scene while he plied her trade in the 2016 Girls U18 Asia Cup. She scored eight goals and therefore caught the limelight as her performances helped her team clinch the bronze medal. She was also a part of the Jharkhand state team which won the 9th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2019 (A Div). Soon after her performances, she was called up to the Indian Junior team.

Sangita has featured in six tournaments with the Junior Indian team and was one of the pivotal figures in their tour of Chile last year. She scored four goals in five matches in this tour.

“I feel these outings with the Junior team gave me a lot of confidence. The Junior team also follows a similar structure to the Senior side so it was not too hard for me to adapt to their game. But I feel there is still a lot of hard work that I need to put in to make a mark in the Senior team and find a regular place,” said Sangita Kumari.

Jharkhand has seen many stars like Salima Tete, Nikki Pradhan and many more come out and make it big in the sport. Sangita explains how the state has a strong hockey culture. We have a strong hockey culture in Simdega and the state has provided a good infrastructure for us. The state team too has been performing well at the Nationals and players like Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan who have represented India at the Olympics have inspired many young players in this region to take up the sport,” she concluded.