The Indian women's hockey team may have won the World League Round 2 in Vancouver earlier in the week, but captain Rani Rampal and senior teammate Deepika Thakur felt the team didn't play up to potential in the seven-team event. The win helped them qualify for the Semi-finals stage of the competition -- a qualifying event for the 2018 World Cup in England.
"We are not satisfied. We could have done much better, especially because all the other teams were ranked below us," Rani told ESPN. "What we must do is score more field goals. That will only come with patience, and we must, for instance, learn how to maintain a 1-0 lead once we score."
India topped their three-team group ahead of Uruguay and Belarus, before beating Belarus in the semi-finals in Vancouver, to ensure their qualification for the Semi-finals to be played in July in South Africa. Two of their wins -- the opening win against Uruguay and the final against Chile -- came via shootout. "The first match should never have gone to a shootout. We needed to win it outright," Thakur felt.
Deepika and Rani are two of only four members from India's last appearance at the 2010 World Cup in Rosario, Argentina to be retained in the current squad -- Poonam Rani and Ritu Rani being the others -- and both emphasised the need to mentor the younger players in the squad.
"As a senior, it is important to remind the girls that we must stick to our structure," said Thakur. "We were very good [in Vancouver] with the shootouts, but we must improve on our penalty-corner conversion rate. We have Gurjit Kaur now who is very good, but we must look to improve."
"In modern hockey, rankings don't matter so much, and on a good day, any of the teams can beat any of the other sides." Rani Rampal, Captain, Indian women's hockey team
The hero for India in the two shootouts, where India conceded only three goals in nine attempts by their opponents, was Savita Punia, and Rani had words of praise for the goalkeeper. "Savita was given the award of the best goalkeeper in Canada. She was exceptional in both shootouts we were a part of," she said. "She has played for India for a long time now, and it was great to see her bring that experience into play at crunch moments. When the senior players play well, it always inspires the juniors in the team as well."
This was also the first major tour undertaken since Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne took charge of the Indian women, who has been vocal about the Indians adopting a Dutch style of play. Rani said her teammates were trying their best to embrace their coach's philosophy, given the short time they have had with him. "He wants us to pass more often and control the ball better. We need to work on all these aspects - ball-trapping, passing and marking. We must train harder now for the next round."
India will go into a 10-team competition with several higher-ranked teams in Johannesburg for the Semi-finals, a stage where they beat Japan to ensure qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics at the last edition of the World League in Antwerp in 2015. Argentina, Germany, England and United States of America are in the top seven, while India are ranked 12th in the world.
"We know it will not be easy. But we must not let any of that pressure get to us in those games. In modern hockey, rankings don't matter so much, and on a good day, any of the teams can beat any of the other sides. If we play to our potential, then who we face will not matter as much," Rani said.
Thakur brought up a personal landmark in the Round 2 final, with the match against Chile representing her 200th cap. She, however, sounded a little disappointed that the landmark match couldn't be saved up for New Zealand, where the World League Final will be played in November -- a qualification that could virtually seal their place in the 16-team World Cup in 2018. "I had a feeling I will reach 200 caps in New Zealand, because that is where I had also reached my 100 caps some years ago."
When probed further on any personal landmarks that she wants to achieve before calling time on a career that began in 2004 and has already seen her turn out at two World Cups (2006 and 2010), Thakur summed up the spirit within this team with her answer.
"We must qualify for the World Cup again. That's the only thing on my mind. We have to qualify not just for the World Cup, but also we must win medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. 2018 is going to be a very important year for all of us."