National Sports Day special: Top achievements in Indian sports over the past year

Indian women’s team wins bronze at Junior Hockey World Cup

Players and support staff of Indian Women’s Junior Hockey team which won bronze medal at Junior Hockey World Cup pose with their medals after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on August 6, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Indian girls scripted history at the seventh FIH Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany by beating England 3-2 in a penalty shootout in bronze medal play-off match on August 4 to finish on the podium.(Photo by Sushil Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Probably the biggest surprise of the past year, the Indian women’s junior hockey team, consisting of girls mostly from small Indian towns and villages, stunned the hockey world and the country by winning a bronze medal at the Junior Hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany.

It was reminiscent of the popular Bollywood movie ‘Chak de India’ as the junior women’s team lost to Australia 1-6 in the opening match of the tournament, before going on a stunning spree, posting wins against Russia, New Zealand, England and Spain.

In the semi-finals, they lost 0-3 to Netherlands, who would go on to win the tournament, but managed to draw the praise of the hockey world with their spirited performances.

Former Indian coach Michael Nobbs has since revealed that he found several of the Indian women’s players to be anaemic, which makes this performance all the more impressive.