When Salima Tete first started playing hockey in her village, becoming captain of the Indian team was not part of the plan.
Playing for India was.
“My dream was just to see ‘Salima’ written on my jersey,” Tete told Olympics.com. “That was my dream, and it has always been about representing India.”
Years later, the 24-year-old is preparing for the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya as captain of the Indian women’s hockey team, having been one of its younger members at the previous edition.
India will head to Japan looking to improve on their bronze medal from Hangzhou 2023, with the Asian Games champions also earning direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics.
“Everyone dreams of going to the Asian Games and directly qualifying for the Olympics,” Tete said. “Our goal is to bring back gold.
“Everyone wants gold, and so do I, just as India wants it. So this time, we will fight for it in every single match.”
Tete’s journey to the national team began in Jharkhand, where she would accompany her father to local hockey tournaments.
Her progression, however, was far from straightforward.
Salima Tete recalled initially being overlooked for a place at a hockey centre in Simdega despite believing she had the ability to succeed. Her parents eventually approached the coach and asked for their daughter to be given an opportunity.
“‘She is a good player, please keep her once and see. If she plays well, keep her; otherwise, it’s fine,’” Tete recalled her parents telling the coach.
“It was a fight. And I didn’t give up. I had a determination that I had to stay at that centre. On Sundays, when everyone had a day off, I used to practise to prove that I was a good player.”
There were financial challenges for the family as well. Tete said her elder sisters worked away from home and sent money to support her while she pursued hockey.
Part of her motivation at the time was practical: she wanted to secure a job and ease the burden on her parents.
“When I got my first job in my home village, it felt really good,” she said. “Now my sister also works, so it helps the family. It makes taking care of the family much easier.”
Tete also credits her late coach Pratima Barwa for helping her development after she joined the centre.
“If she were here today, she would be so happy seeing us – me, Sangita (Kumari), Deepika Soreng, Beauty (Dungdung),” Tete said. “Wherever she is, we pray that she remains happy.”
World Cup fifth place ‘isn’t enough’ for India
Tete will arrive at the Asian Games following India’s fifth-place finish at the recent Hockey World Cup, their best result at the tournament in decades.
For the Indian captain, however, the result fell short of what the team had targeted.
“We are not satisfied or happy with a fifth-place finish. We deserve to finish on the podium, and we worked very hard for that,” she said.
Tete already knows what it is like to come within touching distance of a major medal.
She was one of the younger members of the Indian team that finished fourth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where India narrowly missed out on a historic podium finish.
“I was a young player and a junior then, so I played freely, and all the seniors supported me, telling me that I had good hockey in me,” Tete recalled.
“My dream is also to become an Olympic medallist, but to achieve that, we have to work hard starting right now. Currently, our focus is on the Asian Games.”
The responsibility will be different in Japan. Tete is now one of the senior players expected to provide the support she once received from her more experienced teammates.
She accepts that captaincy brings additional demands but does not intend to approach matches differently because of the armband.
“Pressure is always there – for a player, captain or coach,” Tete said. “But pressure is normal.
“Once you step onto the ground, you forget what pressure is as soon as the ball comes. So we will just focus on ourselves and on our team.”
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/salima-tete-india-hockey-captain-journey-asian-games-2026
