The Indian Women’s Hockey Team has won 7 medals at the Asian Games, but only one is gold, won in New Delhi in 1982, when hockey was introduced to the continental tournament. Now, in 2026, after a historic 5th-place finish at the World Cup, the team departed on Tuesday for the Asian Games in Japan, aiming to win a gold medal and secure a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The team, which is captained by Salima Tete and coached by Sjoerd Marijne, finished 5th at the recent World Cup, which is its best result since the inaugural 1974 edition. In the past few months, India has had an impressive turnaround after Marijne returned as the head coach in January, but more on that later.
Under the FIH’s LA 2028 qualification system, the highest-placed eligible team in the women’s hockey competition at the Asian Games will earn an Olympic quota place, provided it has not already qualified through another pathway, which is why India will look to try their best for that gold medal.
“We are going into the Asian Games with a lot of confidence, but we also know that every tournament brings a new challenge,” said Tete, who had also led India to the Nations Cup title this year, in a release.
“The Nations Cup and the World Cup have given us belief in what we can achieve together, and now our focus is on taking that one step further.
“Our goal is very clear — we want to fight for the gold medal and earn direct qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics. We know it will require consistency, discipline and giving our best in every match, and as a team we are ready for that challenge,” Tete said.
The team has experienced players in Savita, Navneet Kaur, Neha, Nikki Pradhan, Lalremsiami, and Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, including a group of youngsters who have made an impact during recent international matches.
The team has been placed in Pool B alongside Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan. India’s campaign will start with a match against Uzbekistan on September 20, followed by matches against Indonesia on September 21, Thailand on September 23, Japan on September 25, and Singapore on September 27.
The knockout stage will begin on September 30, with the semifinals scheduled for the same day, before the gold-medal match on October 2.
Coming back to India’s impressive turnaround after Marijne returned, their 2026 campaign began with securing a silver medal at the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, and remaining unbeaten until the final and sealing its World Cup qualification with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Italy.
They then went on to produce a dominant campaign at the Nations Cup in Auckland, where they were unbeaten throughout the campaign as they went on to win the title. India defeated the USA, Japan, and Uruguay in the pool stage, beat Chile 6-0 in the semifinal, and then got the better of the hosts New Zealand with a 2-0 win in the final.
The victory at the Nations Cup earned them promotion to the Women’s Pro League for the following season. Even in the World Cup, they only suffered one defeat, drew matches against higher-ranked China, England, and Australia, defeated South Africa 6-1, and finished with a 3-1 victory over the world No. 5 Germany.
