Cinderella stories make sports stand out.
Just in case you missed it, a heartwarming story unfolded this month at the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia in Thailand. It involves an unlikely combination of few passionate women, crowdfunding, generosity, and ice hockey.
The story of this Indian Ice Hockey team is spreading across the hook and nook of the country at a fast pace.
The world apparently loves fairytales. But fairytales like this seldom happen. Some special players and the moment of magic they produce are the ultimate payoffs for people. Their successes validate the emotional investment in ways that are hard to describe.
A first international win against the Philippines, a second international win against Malaysia, and finishing fourth among seven teams. Sports might be a result-driven business, but all these numbers do not tell the complete story.
In a plot twist, despite being a national team, they did not have the necessary funds to make it to an IIHF competition — pretty much like the last few years. Harjinder Singh, General Secretary of Ice Hockey Association of India, had essentially been self-funding the team’s efforts thus far and had even dug into his personal savings for the sake of growth of this sport in our country.
But in the world of ice hockey, and perhaps Indian sports in general, there has never been a more quintessential underdog story.
To glance at the bigger picture, firstly, all the 20 members of the Indian Ice Hockey team play the sport in a natural ice rink which is nothing but a frozen pond. But, unlike last year, to give the girls the best of training before the competition, Harjinder was forced to turn elsewhere. He took the girls to Kyrgyzstan so that they get quality training on a legitimate ice hockey rink before they could fly to Thailand for the Challenge Cup.
Also Read: A Small Team With Giant Dreams Practising On One Of The Highest Ice Rinks In The World
Luckily, the citizens of the Internet are compassionate to an underdog story and were not about to let the team sit this one out due to lack of funding. In an extensive social media campaign started by The Logical Indian and Ice Hockey Association of India, over 3,000 donors came forward and raised an amount close to Rs 32 lakh in just nine days. Because of the outpouring of support, the money raised was used as a stipend to cover the Indian team’s training expenses, accommodation, airfares, visas, team jerseys, and equipment for the women in Kyrgyzstan and Thailand.
“There have been times where I’ve read messages from people that brought tears to my eyes. I am extremely grateful to everybody who backed us. They have made us think that we can do this,” said Padma Chorol, one of the forwards on the team.
Secondly, they competed against teams with significant financial backing and with better infrastructure than ours.
However, even the most optimistic of well-wisher in me had no reason to expect a win before the tournament. And why not? Playing on a frozen pond in Leh and on an artificial rink in Bangkok are two different ball games. On top of that, take into account the statistics of 2016 Challenge Cup of Asia where they conceded 39 goals and scored only five.
But the women produced the unthinkable.
In the first game, they pushed UAE till the very end but went down by a scoreline of 4-6. The best goaltender of the last edition, Noor Jahan, saved an incredible 25 shots but was visibly upset after the game. “I have never performed like this before in my hockey career. I was too nervous today. But I know I am better and will do better in the next game,” she said.
While outsiders expected a similar result in the next match against the Philippines, Tsewang Chuskit did not merely want to prove everyone wrong, she was determined to win the game by showing the girls back in Ladakh how ice hockey should be played.
Done, and done…
Unlike the previous game, India started the game cautiously in the first period. However, India broke the ice seizing an opportunity in the penultimate minute of the second period when Chuskit slotted India’s first goal to give India a 1-0 lead. Rinchen Dolma scored at the 42:05 mark to give a well-deserved lead. Rinchen took no time to convert Padma Chorol’s pass and fire off a shot that went under Cabili and into the net at the 8:39 mark. Although the Philippines team came back strongly scoring three quick goals to go ahead, Chuskit scored the equalising goal and soon after found the winner with a superb angular shot towards the end of the third period. The Philippines player continued to play offensive in the final 60 seconds even getting a few more shots on goal, but it was too late.
Also Read: Indian Women Ice Hockey Team’s First International Win Deserves Your Attention More Than Anything Else
After ensuring the victory against Philippines, Chuskit and her teammates huddled solemnly in the middle of the rink and wept while the national anthem was playing loudly inside the…
