Commonwealth Games 2022: Lalremsiami makes BIG statement after World Cup exit, says 'We are disappointed but...'

After finishing ninth at the recently-concluded FIH Hockey Women's World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, the Indian Women's Hockey Team look to start afresh as they gear up for the prestigious Commonwealth Games 2022 scheduled to begin from July 29 in Birmingham, England.

Eyes on the ball and target on the net! #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HWC2022 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/4Sg9hiCytz — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 15, 2022

The Indian team led by Savita registered two draws against England (1-1) and China (1-1) respectively and lost 3-4 to New Zealand in the Pool stage. They suffered a narrow 0-1 loss to Spain in Crossover, thus missing out on qualifying for the Quarter-Final stage of the competition. However, the Indian team went on to beat Canada 1-1 (3-2 SO) and Japan 3-1 to finish 9th in the tournament.

Young forward Lalremsiami, who featured in all six World Cup matches, expressed that the team will work on the mistakes and start afresh for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022.

"We are disappointed at the outcome. I think we could have done better, but in the end, you need to accept, move on and focus on the positive learnings from the campaign. We will work on the mistakes and start afresh for the Commonwealth Games," stated Lalremsiami.

The 22-year-old player, who scored a goal against New Zealand in the pool stage match spoke about her learnings from the tournament. 

"Personally, I could have created more goalscoring opportunities, I could have converted more goals. It did not go as planned, but many learnings were involved. I feel privileged to get an opportunity to represent India at the World Cup, and I am really lucky to have very supportive teammates. As I said, we are just taking the positives from the campaign, learning from our mistakes and improving our game," she said.

With less than two weeks to go for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Lalremsiami said, "We introspected on our performance in the tournament and are now focused on working on all the aspects of the game before heading to the big event."

"We have been in Europe for more than a month and there is still a long way to go. It is a long tour and it is really important that we stay in the moment and take one step at a time," Lalremsiami concluded. India will kick off their CWG 2022 campaign against Ghana on Friday, July 29, 2022.