Salima Tete: A Journey to Crowning Glory
3 min read
Salima Tete of Jharkhand is captain of Indian women’s hockey team
Defeated poverty and lack of resources, she gain such heights.
Jaswant Claudius
Raipur: Those who adopt a scientific approach towards sports will probably find it surprising that a female player living in a village in the middle of the forest is leading the Indian hockey team. She was born and brought up in a small village Badki Chhapar in Simdega district of Jharkhand state. Born in a labourer’s family, Salima adopted hockey. Initially, her father Sulakshan Tete taught her to play hockey. Apart from her father, her mother and elder sister Anima helped Salima financially to progress in hockey by working in other people’s houses. Salima’s love for hockey remained intact even in the absence of proper sports equipment and training. Born on 27 December 2001, Salima established herself as a midfielder and was selected for the Indian team camp at the age of just 15 years. She never looked back. So far she has played 107 matches for India in which she has scored 15 goals. In hockey, the midfielder is an important link in both attack and defence of any team. Polite, civilised, calm Salima has earned respect from Hockey India officials, coaches, assistants and team players due to her dedication towards hockey, punctuality, hard work, discipline. She played her first match for the senior women’s team against Belarus in 2017. She was the captain of the Indian hockey team in the 3rd Youth Olympic Games held in Buenos Aires in 2018 and her team won the silver medal for India. She was a member of the Indian team that finished fourth in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
However, Salima became the second female player from Jharkhand to participate in the Olympic Games, the first being Nikki Pradhan. Under her leadership, India finished fourth in the 2021 Junior World Cup. The Indian hockey team secured third place in the 2022 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, of which she was a member. In this way, the newly appointed captain of the Indian hockey team, Salima, has the challenge of further improving the performance of the Indian hockey team. During the match, the game of this talent from the rural area is worth watching. As a midfielder, it is very important to keep a close eye on the ball and whether the ball is from the team’s side or the opposition’s side, the midfielder has to move the game in favor of his team with speed and intelligence. Salima has consistently shown the same game for the team in her seven-year journey at the international level. In the 2022 FIL Women’s World Cup held in Spain and Netherlands, the Indian team finished 9th and failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. In view of this, the Indian women’s hockey team needed an energetic and positive leadership these days, to fulfill which Hockey India has entrusted the responsibility to Salima Tete. India’s young generation has great expectations from Salima, who has emerged from the rural area of the Scheduled Tribe area of Jharkhand at the age of just 23. At present, the entire team is saddened by not being able to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In such a situation, the leadership of the Indian women’s team is in the hands of a person who has not only overcome the struggle but has also achieved success in difficulties. Congratulations to India’s daughter Salima for the new responsibility and best wishes for taking the Indian women’s team to new heights
