RANCHI: In a first, five players hailing from Jharkhand’s Simdega district, including Captain Salima Tete, have made it to the Indian Women’s Hockey team. But thats not all; in another first, two sisters from Jharkhand, Salima Tete and Mahima Tete, will be playing alongside each other in the national team.The team will be led by Salima Tete, the formidable midfielder who has been named Captain, while her younger sister, Mahima, also a midfielder, has earned her debut place in the squad, sparking jubilations across the state and Simdega in particular. Her selection marks a significant representation from a region known for its grassroots hockey talent. The Tete sisters will be joined in the forward line by Beauty Dungdung and Deepika Soreng, also hailing from Simdega. In addition, Anjana Dungdung, another Simdega girl, has been named among the standby players for the tournament, further highlighting the district’s strong contribution to Indian women’s hockey.According to ‘Hockey Simdega’ president Manoj Konbegi, there is hockey in the soil of Simdega; he attributed the achievement to exposure to hockey since childhood in regular tournaments providing the required training and expreience to hone their talent. Konbegi said since most of these girls come from very poor backgrounds, few have access to proper nutrients from their daily meal of ‘maad-bhaat’ (water-soaked rice); many started taking milk only after getting into the residential hockey centers in the district.
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