From barefoot hockey to Asian Games, India's Lalremsiami chases golden dream

BENGALURU, Sept 14 - When an 11-year-old Lalremsiami Hmarzote told her parents she wanted to leave home to take up a place at one of India's top hockey academies, she first had to explain to them what the sport was.

Less than a decade later, Lalremsiami would become the first female Olympian and the first Asian Games medallist from the northeastern state of Mizoram.

Lalremsiami, who fell in love with the sport playing barefoot on dirt pitches in the Himalayan town of Kolasib, is now India's offensive lynchpin as they bid for a first Asian Games gold since 1982.

She told Reuters she had to overcome her parents' resistance to the idea of her joining the Sports Authority of India's academy in Thenzawl, about 170 km from her hometown.

"My family initially didn't want me to join the academy, but eventually they agreed," the 26-year-old told Reuters.

"I told them I have to play it, I can only play hockey."

Hockey is one of India's national sports but it remains a fringe pursuit in the tiny mountainous state of Mizoram, wedged between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Lalremsiami credited the geography of the mountainous region for helping her develop endurance and athleticism.

"If you're walking somewhere, you're either going up or down the hill," Lalremsiami said with a smile.

"You get used to the exhaustion, the heavy breathing ... it helps you when you are training as an athlete."

Her fitness stood out when she debuted for India's under-18 team and she was called up to the senior camp within a year.

In 2018, she won a Youth Olympics silver medal and scored four goals as the senior India team reached their first Asian Games final in 20 years.

She has earned 193 caps for her country and was the first Indian woman to score in three consecutive World Cup campaigns as they came fifth last month in the Netherlands and Belgium, their best finish since 1974.

THE GOLDEN DREAM

Lalremsiami said the India team, under Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne, believe their World Cup performance has set them up for a shot at gold in this month's Aichi-Nagoya Games after three bronzes and the 2018 silver over the last two decades.

"We have the belief, but we are not over-confident ... I know everyone's expectations are high but we must stay calm and focused," she said.

Her ultimate dream, though, is to build training facilities in different parts of her state, so girls can pursue the sport without having to leave their home, like she had to.

"I did not have any equipment when I started. A former player was teaching us after school, she had some hockey sticks," Lalremsiami said.

"Sometimes football teams have issues with the grounds being used for hockey ... there are only three hockey grounds in Mizoram, where will kids play?

"During the World Cup, my mother told me an unknown person came up to her and said their daughter loved hockey but they did not know how and where to get into it," Lalremsiami added.

"I felt very bad that I could not help. How am I supposed to guide somebody? I can't even say, go play in the academy, because it's so far away.

"It is my dream to build more hockey grounds in Mizoram ... they will produce much better players than me, I can guarantee that." REUTERS