Disappointment of Tokyo Games postponement is behind us: Sushila Chanu

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Indian women's hockey team mid-fielder Sushila Chanu has insisted that the team has left behind the disappointment of the postponement of Tokyo Olympic Games and they are now working harder to achieve their goal.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Tokyo Games have been postponed by a year and are now scheduled to be held in Summer 2021.

"I think the disappointment over Tokyo Olympics postponement is behind us. We collectively felt that this was best case scenario for us as we have been improving steadily over the past two years and we believe we can build on this rhythm in the coming months," stated Chanu who had captained the Indian team at Rio Olympics in 2016.

The core probables for the Olympic Games currently consists of 24 members and are based in SAI Centre, Bengaluru where they continue to focus on individual fitness routine and workout in isolation.

Since the nation-wide lockdown was announced, the team has suspended formal hockey training and is making best use of this time to introspect on their own game and areas that require improvement.

Speaking of their daily schedule, Chanu said, "Our Scientific Advisor Wayne Lombard has given us specific workout charts which we need to follow."

"The focus right now is to maintain our fitness levels and workouts vary from individual distance running to bodyweight training, workouts using stretch-chords and some weights we have available in our rooms.

"Though hockey training is suspended, we watch a lot of our previous match videos as well as opponent team's videos to analyse their game.

"We use a software to do this and I feel this is the best time to introspect on our own game to understand which areas need improvement," she added.

She also expressed gratitude to the people for their generosity to participate in the fun fitness challenge launched by the Indian eves to raise funds for the poor and migrant workers whose lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is very encouraging to see so many people support the Indian women's hockey team's goal of feeding 1000 people who have been affected by the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have received so much love and support from the people of this country towards our quest for success in hockey and the team felt this was the time to step up and do something for the people," expressed Chanu who hails from Imphal, Manipur where her father works as a driver.

In four days, the team has already raised over Rs 7,00,000 lakh and crowdfund will continue till May 3 when the nation-wide lockdown is scheduled to end.

"We are delighted that people are not just donating for the cause but they are also participating in the fitness challenge. It is very important to remain physically active and the workouts we have designed throughout this challenge are not very difficult and can be done indoors," said Chanu.