Salima Tete hopes to put Tokyo Olympics experience to good use in Women's Junior World Cup

Salima Tete has become a mainstay in the Indian women's hockey senior team. Still only 19 years old, Tete has cemented her place in the senior team with her hard work, attitude and skill.

Salima Tete was one of the youngest players in the Indian women's hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics. The team dished out an impressive performance to finish fourth, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal.

As the FIH Junior Women's Hockey World Cup beckons, Salima Tete is now part of the Indian junior women's team's core group. The Junior Women's Hockey World Cup commences on December 5 in South Africa.

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The Indian team are grouped in Pool C along with Argentina, Japan and Russia. Other teams in the fray include the Netherlands, Korea, Ireland and Zimbabwe, who have been placed in Pool A. England, Belgium, Canada and Uruguay are in Pool B, while Germany, Spain, the United States and South Africa will compete against each other in Pool D.

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Salima Tete banks on exposure in Hockey World Cup

Having played with the Indian women's senior team for more than three years, Salima Tete is not short of experience. She opined:

"I have been really fortunate to get exposure with the senior team, so early in my career. Playing under pressure and also understanding what it really takes to play at the highest level have been some of the key takeaways for me. I look forward to using this experience with the senior team while working with my teammates from the junior core group."

With just one month to go until the Women's Junior World Cup, Salima Tete, who also led the Indian U-18 team to a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, believes the team is shaping up well.

"The team has been preparing well. I have been part of this camp since September and I see a lot of improvement and there is a lot of excitement among the players. We've got to play some internal matches against the senior team which is great exposure for youngsters in this squad. The Indian Junior Team also did well when they traveled to Chile earlier this year for some test matches."

She added that the Indian junior team is drawing inspiration from the senior women's team.

"The team is extremely inspired by the senior team and they all want to eventually play for the senior side and realize that the upcoming Junior World Cup is the perfect platform to showcase their talent. With the team yet to be announced, there is healthy competition within the group. These are indeed exciting times."

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