When the pressure begins to build, Navneet Kaur has a simple way of reminding herself what she is capable of.
She finds a mirror.
“I am the best, I’m the finest!” Navneet tells herself, laughing.
“Doing that self-talk really helps me out,” the Indian hockey player told Olympics.com.
For Navneet, belief has particular significance heading into the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya.
India arrive in Japan after finishing fifth at the recent Hockey World Cup, their best result at the tournament in decades. But the confidence within the team, Navneet says, has taken time to rebuild after the disappointment of missing the Paris 2024 Olympics.
India had finished fourth at Tokyo 2020 and entered the next Olympic cycle hoping to go one better. Instead, they failed to qualify for Paris.
“We struggled a lot for two years trying to rebuild that belief and confidence within the team because everyone was very sad and deeply hurt by it,” Navneet said.
“But the good thing is, with what the team has done together over the last seven months in terms of team unity, I think that confidence and belief have returned.
“As a player, after going through two very tough years, it feels really good to be in a better space now.”
India’s recent results have helped.
Their World Cup campaign ended with a fifth-place finish, although Navneet Kaur believes there was an opportunity to go deeper.
“There is a bit of sadness that we had a good chance to go even further,” she said. “Even so, reaching that level is a really good thing. For the team’s belief and confidence, we performed quite well there.”
The Indian team will now have another major target at the Asian Games, where winning the women’s hockey gold medal would also secure direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Navneet acknowledged that the opportunity brings pressure but said India’s immediate focus will remain on their own performances.
“As a player, you go to the Asian Games after four years of hard training. Knowing that we can qualify for the Olympics directly from there serves as a great motivation,” she said.
“Naturally, there is also some pressure, but as a team, we have the belief that we will do well there and achieve the goal we have set.”
Team unity, Navneet Kaur says, has been central to India’s approach over the past seven months.
“If we set a goal as a collective team, we can achieve it,” she said.
“The senior and junior players understand each other’s requirements and how to help one another. Because of this, the team is performing well, and we’ll keep maintaining this culture of mutual support both on and off the field.”
For India, the Asian Games will come soon after their World Cup campaign – something Navneet Kaur is happy about.
“Even during the last match of the World Cup, the feeling was that the next match should come quickly,” she said.
“It’s good that the next tournament is right around the corner, where we can give a good performance.”
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/navneet-kaur-india-hockey-pressure-confidence-asian-games-2026
