For Savita Punia, the disappointment of missing the Paris 2024 Olympics was a bitter pill to swallow, especially after what had transpired just three years prior.
The Indian women’s hockey team had come within one victory of an historic medal at Tokyo 2020, finishing fourth. The expectation was that Paris would provide another podium opportunity.
India did not even make it to Paris 2024.
“When you come so close to a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the dream is to go to Paris next and bring home a medal,” Savita told Olympics.com. “At that time, it was such a huge setback that we couldn’t even qualify.
“But the best thing about sports is that after you fall, you have to get back up; you have no choice, and you learn from it.”
Two years on, the Indian women head into the Asian Games 2026 following a fifth-place finish at the recent Hockey World Cup – their best result at the tournament in decades.
India lost just once during their World Cup campaign, although Savita believes the results could have been even better.
“Today, even after drawing against teams like Australia or the People’s Republic of China, we feel that we should have won that match,” she said.
“It feels great that we finished fifth, but we are also a bit disappointed because we lost only one match and were very close to a medal.”
For Savita Punia, who has made more than 300 appearances for India, the turnaround began with how the team responded to the failure to qualify for Paris 2024.
“As a senior player, I also told my team that sometimes the result is not in our control, but what matters is how we change moving forward,” she said.
“I think our team changed its mindset, focused on discipline, and paid attention to fitness, which helped us overcome it.”
The return of a familiar coaching setup has also helped. Savita revealed that the players had requested the return of the coaching staff, having previously worked with them during India’s successful Tokyo campaign.
Also critical to the shift has been the Sports Authority of India (SAI), whose funding and modern training infrastructure gave the squad the resources to rebuild its fitness and add depth to the squad in the two years after Paris.
The next opportunity comes in Aichi-Nagoya, where the stakes extend beyond the Asian Games podium.
Winning the women’s hockey competition would secure India direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics, avoiding the qualification route that ultimately ended their hopes of competing at Paris 2024.
Savita believes securing the quota in Japan would also give India valuable time to prepare for Los Angeles.
“Qualifying directly for LA will leave us with a solid one-and-a-half years of good preparation time for LA,” she said.
China, Japan and the Republic of Korea will be among India’s principal challengers, and Savita is wary of looking too far ahead.
“Definitely, we have to take it match by match because China, Korea, Japan and India all have the same opportunity,” she said.
The Asian Games will also offer India an immediate opportunity to build on their World Cup campaign.
“This good performance in the World Cup serves as great motivation for the team and for me individually,” Savita said. “We will enter the Asian Games with confidence.”
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/savita-punia-india-women-hockey-paris-setback-asian-games-2026
