A fortnight in the past, when Sonika’s mom boarded a flight from Delhi to reach in Bengaluru to attend Sunehra Safar – a particular send-off ceremony hosted by Hockey India little did the 26-year-old participant know that she would obtain her India jersey by her mom forward of the all-important Hangzhou Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 8.
“It was really a particular second, particularly to obtain the jersey in entrance of a giant viewers which included all my teammates. Those couple of minutes on the stage introduced again all of the reminiscences of my wrestle and going through challenges to get right here and my mom has been equally a part of this journey – at all times supporting me at each essential juncture,” stated an emotional Sonika.
READ: Sukhjeet Singh Sets Sights on Helping India Secure Paris Olympics Berth Through Asian Games
The midfielder from Hisar, Haryana made her senior team debut at the Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand back in 2016. She was part of the team that won the Gold medal at the Women’s Asia Cup in 2017 and featured in the Ready Steady Tokyo event in 2019.
But the following year put a pause in her budding career. In 2020, she had to leave the National Camp to seek professional help to improve her mental wellbeing. “Covid lockdown was not kind to me. It was a tough phase personally and I am so glad that my struggle to stay strong mentally through this phase was recognized very early on by the team management and I was provided with professional help. Looking back, I am very grateful to Hockey India and my teammates for allowing me this break,” said Sonika on reflection.
Having made a comeback within the nationwide workforce in 2021/ 22 on the FIH Hockey Pro League after a robust efficiency in that yr’s National Championships, Sonika has solely risen in her profession. She has been an everyday function within the workforce, having performed an element within the historic Bronze medal win on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in addition to the title win on the FIH Nations Cup 2022.
“I’m extraordinarily excited and desperate to play my first ever Asian Games. I’ve put in a number of arduous work to succeed in this stage in my profession and having picked up good leads to main occasions like CWG, the workforce may be very assured of an excellent present. After Hockey India’s Sunehra Safar occasion, the workforce is all of the extra motivated and impressed to carry laurels to the nation, in addition to our households. Our focus is only on successful the Gold and doing properly within the Paris Olympics 2024,” Sonika signed off.
ALSO READ: Our Goal Is To Leave China With No Regrets, Says Indian Hockey Forward Abhishek Ahead Of Asian Games
India is grouped in Pool A with Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong China and Singapore. They will begin their campaign on September 27 against Singapore.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated news company feed – IANS)
Source: www.news18.com
