We are confident of qualifying for Olympics: Midfielder Sushila Chanu

Midfielder Sushila Chanu is confident of Indian women's hockey team qualifying for Tokyo Olympics as she feels country has me a lot of improvement in last three years.

Indian team, which returned to Olympic fold in Rio in 2016 after a gap of 36 years, plays against United States here on vember 1 and 2 for a berth in next year's Tokyo Games.

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"We kw how it felt representing India at Olympics when we qualified for it after a 36-year gap in Rio. However, when we came back from that outing, re was a unanimous feeling around group that we need to push ourselves and make sure we consistently put in performances which will help us in qualifying for next edition," Sushila said.

"We have me huge strides from previous Olympics, and w we are all very determined to secure our place in 2020 Tokyo Olympics," said 26-year-old Sushila who captained side in 2016 Rio Olympics. It was a disastrous performance for India in Rio Olympics as team crashed out in preliminary st after losing four matches and drawing one to finish at bottom of group.

"We have 10 players in this current side who were re in Rio as well, and all of us collectively want to experience that feeling again. t just that, we want to win a medal for country this time in Tokyo," said midfielder from Manipur. world number 9 Indian team is currently training here at Kalinga Hockey Stium ahe of ir Olympic Qualifiers against world number 13 USA.

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"We have best opportunity to qualify for Tokyo Olympics as we are playing at home against USA. We will have support of home crowd, and even though USA are a strong unit, we have full belief in ourselves and in way we play.

"We have me huge strides in our game from 2016 and w is time to show it to world that India is here to challenge for top hours, regardless of opposition we face. That is kind of confidence we have and we are determined to produce results in Olympic Qualifiers," Sushila said.

Having missed two major tournaments last year due to a long-term injury, midfielder returned to side at start of this year. He said journey back to team has been a tough one.

"It was unfortunate that I suffered a long-term injury in 2018, and h to miss major tournaments like 2018 FIH Women's Hockey World Cup in London, 2018 Asian Games and AHF Women's Champions Trophy. It was a difficult period for me personally as I was low on confidence.

"re were times when I would doubt myself and think about what-ifs, but support I received from my family, support staff and teammates was immense, it helped me in making a comeback," said Sushila who has 179 international caps. 

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