Tete: Talk time

Ranchi, March 28: The Indian women?s hockey team lost the gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne because they missed opportunities to score goals.

Indian captain and Jharkhand girl Sumrai Tete spoke about her team?s performance in the Commonwealth Games today, saying the team lost because it failed to spot chances to score.

Tete is currently in New Delhi as part of the Railways team, which takes on Jharkhand in the Senior National Women?s Hockey Tournament today.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Tete said though the girls played well at the Commonwealth Games, they missed out on the gold. ?But unfortunately the Australians didn?t, and scored the goals,? she added.

There were five women from the state ? Ashunta Lakra, Maseera Surin, Kanti Ba, Sarita Lakra and Subhadra Pradhan ? in the national team.

The matches, apart from that against Malaysia, were tough for the team. ?We played against heavyweights like the Australians and New Zealanders,? said Tete.

?There were good performances from the girls of Jharkhand,? she added.

The captain said the team?s technique had improved. The girls displayed a fair amount of penalty corner conversions and ball clearances.

Since her return from Melbourne, Tete has been made the captain of the senior national women?s hockey team ? a dream come true.

While some are made captain of the junior national team, Tete is the first to be selected captain of the senior team.

Tete?s leg injury from the Commonwealth Games means that she cannot take part in all of the league matches in the senior nationals. She will be restricted to playing in important ones.