Hockey Te Charcha

In the 30th episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we speak to Indian Women’s Team player Salima Tete, who was part of the team that won the Bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Salima, who hails from Jharkhand, touched upon how her journey over the years and how the senior players have been a massive source of encouragement and motivation.

Captain of the Indian Team that won the Silver medal at the 3rd Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires, Salima explained that such big achievements in her career so far have helped raise the profile of her native place, which has also resulted in better training facilities being availalbe for the younger players of the area.

Salima also opened up about her relationship with the senior players in the Indian team, who have been a source of strength. The 20-year-old also spoke about how the team was determined to ensure they won a medal at Birmingham and more.

In this new episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we spoke to Suman Bala, member of the 2002 Commonwealth Games’ Gold winning Indian Women’s Team about the journey from two decades ago.

Suman, who was playing her second Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002, scored 3 goals for India as they surprised one and all with a memorable campaign. The Indian team started off slowly before picking up the pace, with the former international believing the win against South Africa as the turning point for the team’s run-in.

Suman was a crucial part of the Indian team set-up then and hopes the Savita-led Women’s Team can repeat the feats of 2002.

The former international not only had high praise for the current set of players but also noted that the players had been empowered more by Hockey India in recent years. She said that seeing the current Indian Women’s Team in such a happy place is great.

Suman, who now lives in Vancouver in Canada, wished the Indian Men’s and Women’s Team well for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, rueing the fact that she would not be able to watch them in person.

In the recent episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we spoke to the talented Indian Women’s Hockey Star Gurjit Kaur.

A prolific drag-flicker, Gurjit made her senior debut in 2014 and has been an integral part of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team in the recent year. Gurjit’s ambitions have helped India achieve significant triumphs in recent years, most notably at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She scored the game-winning penalty corner goal in India's historic 1-0 triumph over Australia, advancing the Indian Women's Hockey team to their first-ever Semi-Final in the Summer Games.

Gurjit scored two goals in the Bronze Medal match against Great Britain, in addition to one in the Semi-Final against Argentina. Her outstanding performance earned her the FIH Women's Player of the Year award for 2020-2021.

She also played a key role in India’s third-place finish in the just-concluded FIH Hockey Women’s Pro League games 2021/22.

Gurjit in a candid conversation spoke about her journey. She also spoke about the Indian team’s recent success and shed light on their preparations for the upcoming 2022 FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup.

For episode 27, we spoke to promising young star of Indian Hockey Sanjay. A prolific dragflicker, Sanjay has been part of the National program over the last five years. He was part of the U-18 team that won a historic silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires back in 2018, he was a regular feature in the junior side that finished on the podium in back-to-back Sultan of Johor Cup. He was part of the team that finished 4th in the Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year.

And in the recently held Hockey 5’s tournament in Lausanne, Switzerland, he was part of the Indian men’s team that emerged victorious.

Sanjay got candid as he fondly spoke of his journey in hockey from the small hamlet of Dabra village in Hisar district, Haryana. He spoke about his days in the Chandigarh Hockey Academy where he met stalwart players like Rupinder Pal Singh, Olympic Bronze medalist. To listen to this youngster's story, do tune in to this latest episode...

In this latest episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we indulge in an engaging conversation with one of the finest goalkeepers to have represented India in recent times - Savita.

She has been an integral part of the Indian Women's Hockey team for nearly over a decade. Savita made her international debut at the age of 18 when she was selected for the Four Nations Tournament in Durban, South Africa.

Featuring in over 200 matches for India, She has played a key role in helping India win the several accolades including a historic silver medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta, a Gold Medal in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy in 2016, and she also played a significant role in helping the team qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time in 36 years in 2016. She played a critical role in India’s historic fourth place finish at the Tokyo Olympic Games and she is now preparing to lead the team in a successful Pro League campaign in Europe before the Indian team begins their World Cup challenge in Netherlands in July.

Here, she talks about the team's resurgence over the past few years, her favourite moment with the team and also candidly talks about living up to the expectations after a fantastic outing in Tokyo Olympics last year.

A two-time Olympian, Asian Games Gold medallist with 285 International Caps for India, Dr AB Subbaiah has been associated with hockey not only as a player but also a former Coach and Administrator. A true student of the game, in this candid conversation with Hockey Te Charcha, he talks about going back to the basics and learning about the many changes the sport has undergone over the past few decades.

He talks passionately about the work being done to bring back the glory days in his home state Karnataka, where he leads a young bunch of administrators as Secretary General of Hockey Karnataka.

Subbaiah also talks about the Odisha State Government’s role in supporting hockey and he also puts his weight behind the men and the women’s team to achieve greater success in the coming years.

In this latest episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we caught up with Indian Women's Hockey Chief Coach Janneke Schopman. An Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup winner for the Netherlands, Janneke talks candidly about her transformation from being a player to a coach.

From telling us all about how her family was a big influence for her to take up the sport to coaching the Indian Women's Team, Janneke engaged in a free-wheeling conversation on the sidelines of the team's preparations for the upcoming FIH Hockey Women's World Cup in Netherlands and Spain.

Tune in to the full episode.

In this episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we speak with Former Indian Men’s Hockey Team Captain Dilip Tirkey. Tirkey holds the distinction of being the most capped Indian hockey player of all time with 412 International appearances over a career spanning 15 years. He is a former Rajya Sabha representative for the state of Odisha, and presently serves as the Chairman of the Odisha Hockey Promotion Council.

In this free-wheeling conversation, Tirkey reminisces about the highs & lows and countless memories of his playing days. He offers his insights into present day International hockey and the developments in modern day hockey from various perspectives.

In what is scheduled to be a crucial period for Indian hockey with an upcoming Hockey World Cup in the state of Odisha in January 2023, Tirkey speaks about the impact that hosting the prestigious event for the second successive time in Odisha will have on the fans and aspiring young players in the region. Tune in to listen to the full episode.

Indian Women’s Hockey team veteran Sushila Chanu appears as a guest on the latest episode of Hockey Te Charcha. In this episode, Sushila sheds light on her memorable experiences from her storied career in International hockey thus far. The 30 year-old halfback from Manipur tells listeners about how and why she began playing hockey as a child, and the pathway that led her into the Indian Junior Women’s National team’s fold.

With her experience of competing and securing the Bronze Medal in the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup as the Captain of the team, Sushila shares her invaluable insight and words of advice for the Junior Women’s Hockey team set to compete at the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.

Always considered a popular member in the ranks of the Indian eves, Sushila tells the tale of grit and resilience that helped her recover from a serious injury in the months preceding the 2016 Rio Olympics, and how she revived herself to breathe new life into her career and continue to make a mark in world hockey for her home state of Manipur.

In this episode of Hockey Te Charcha, we speak with marquee Indian Women’s Hockey Team forward Vandana Katariya, who shares her journey towards becoming one of the most celebrated players in Indian and world hockey. Vandana speaks at length about her late father, who has been the strongest pillar of support in her personal and professional life.

She then goes on to talk about the many highs and lows of her career in International hockey, sharing her insights on cherishing the best moments and fighting her way through the difficult times. Vandana remains the only Indian Women’s Hockey player to score a hat-trick at the Olympics, and she shares the story that inspired this iconic performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The conversation concludes with the star forward sharing her plans for the road ahead, and a quick rapid fire round which gives her fans an insight into the personal likes and dislikes of Vandana Katariya. Tune into the episode to find out more.