Asian Games: Chak De girls raise the bar to gold after World Cup high

Fresh from a surprising fifth-place finish at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, Salima Tete’s Chak De girls are not willing to settle for anything less than a gold at the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi Nagoya—as it would give them a direct berth at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

“We are going into the Asian Games with a lot of confidence, but we also know that every tournament brings a new challenge,’’ Salima told Hockey India media on the eve of their departure for the Games from Bengaluru on Tuesday.

‘’The Nations Cup and the World Cup have given us belief in what we can achieve together, and now our focus is on taking that one step further. Our goal is very clear—we want to fight for the gold medal and earn direct qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics. We know it will require consistency, discipline and giving our best in every match, and as a team we are ready for that challenge,” Tete said.

The fifth position in Belgium and Netherlands, where the girls outshone their men counterparts who had to be satisfied with a modest eighth place—has also resurrected Hockey India’s faith on their Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne. During a media interaction with the team prior to their departure, senior goalkeeper Savita Punja playfully remarked about Marijne: ‘’He is better than Shah Rukh Khan. He is our real hero,’’ in a reference to the reel life coach played by the Bollywood icon in the film Chak De.

The Asian Games will be the latest chapter in what has been an impressive turnaround for the Indian women under Marijne, who returned to the fold earlier this year and was appointed Chief Coach in January 2026. His immediate emphasis was on improving fitness, strengthening team chemistry and developing a strong collective identity as India entered the Olympic cycle.

India began their 2026 campaign by securing a silver medal at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, remaining unbeaten until the final and sealing their World Cup qualification with a 1-0 semi-final victory over Italy. The team then produced a dominant campaign at the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup in Auckland, remaining unbeaten during which they defeated the USA, Japan and Uruguay in the pool stage, beat Chile 6-0 in the semis and then defeated hosts New Zealand 2-0 in the final.

The momentum carried into the World Cup, where India produced one of their finest performances in decades to finish fifth, its best World Cup result since the inaugural edition in 1974. It was a campaign in which they suffered just one defeat, held higher-ranked China, England and Australia to draws, defeated South Africa 6-1 and signed off with a 3-1 victory over world No. 5 Germany.

In Japan, India has been placed in Pool B alongside Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. The team will open its campaign against Uzbekistan on 20 September, followed by matches against Indonesia on 21, Thailand (23), Japan (25) and Singapore (27).

The knockout phase will begin on 30 September, with the semi-finals scheduled for the same day before the gold-medal match on 2 October.