Women's Hockey World Cup: We want to fill the void of missing a medal at the Olympics, says India captain Savita Punia

The tears at the end of the Tokyo Olympics accompanied a historic achievement. A fourth place in the final standings may mean missing a medal by a whisker, but a women's hockey team from India had never finished that high at the Games. It followed a welcome chance to debut at the Pro League, where India finished third, ahead of teams like Belgium, Spain, Germany and England -- winning six of their 14 matches. One vital cog missing in the team's wheel during the Pro League was inspirational skipper Rani. A hamstring injury had kept her on the sidelines for 10 months, before she finally worked her way back for the European tour. But coach Janneke Schopman gave Rani just one Pro League game on the tour, her 250th cap, but the central striker looked as good as never being injured at all. It seemed India's set-up was complete just ahead of two big events -- the World Cup in Spain and Netherlands, followed by the Commonwealth Games in England. The squad was announced with all the excepted names, except one -- Rani. WHY EXACTLY IS RANI NOT IN THE WORLD CUP SQUAD?It was a surprise for many to see Rani's name missing from the World Cup squad, but coach Schopman, who interestingly played against Rani at the 2010 World Cup, came on record to say that Rani is yet to fully recuperate from her injury.

(Rani with coach Janneke Schopman - Photo: Hockey India)"On selection matters, it would be best if you ask the coach," said India captain and goalkeeper Savita Punia during an interaction with Timesofindia.com three days before India open their World Cup campaign against England on July 3. "I feel it would be best if we talk about the players who are there (have been selected). Whatever combination or squad we have, we are happy with