After her team's narrow defeat against the Sports Authority of India 'B' team, Munmuni Das was distraught but there was enough twinkle in her eyes to find where she belonged in the list of top scorers.
Munmuni Das, 16, has been one of the most eye-catching players for the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Center, competing at the ongoing Khelo India Women's Hockey League Under 21.
Hailing from the Tinsukia district of Assam, Munmuni has scored three times from a total of four matches so far in the first phase of the league competition at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in New Delhi.
An absolute livewire during the matches, Munmuni mentioned whatever big she achieves in her life, she will dedicate to none but her late father Kaliya Das.
"I started playing hockey back in 2015 looking at the senior boys in school. Since then, I got the passion to play the sport. However, people in my village in Assam never supported hockey or any sport in particular. Being a girl, it was also next to impossible to pursue the sport. However, I started playing in some way and after some months, went on to play in the interstate from where I earned my selection to be a part of the Sports Authority of India centre in Kokrajhar in 2017," Munmun said in a statement.
"My dad, who passed away a year back, used to support me a lot. I couldn't afford to even buy a hockey stick but papa used to arrange it. He was a salesman. It was difficult for him to support me, my mother and my sister for our education, family as well as my playing needs. But he never hesitated from helping me. I will never ever forget his role in helping me be where I am today," she added.
Munmuni's link-up with Ashima Rout, another key player of the team who has four goals so far, makes the Naval Tata Odisha team's matches all the more beautiful.
"Ashima is like my sister. Whenever there are mistakes, we discuss about them after the match and are always looking forward to strengthening ourselves before the next match. We are just concerned about making our team win," said Munmun.
All geared up to help her get a good finish in the points table at the competition, Munmuni recalled the performance of the Indian hockey teams at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year.
"In Tokyo, our senior men's team didn't give up. They were losing 1-3 in the bronze medal match against Germany and from there, went on to win 5-4. That gave us a lot of inspiration," she said.
"The women's team too tried their best and they gave a really good performance against Australia in the quarterfinals," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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