Forced to leave the women’s national hockey camp in Bengaluru to deal with her mental wellness after the first phase of the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 in 2020, Hisar midfielder Sonika has come a long way with remarkable performances to finally find herself in the Hangzhou Asian Games-bound team.

Having made her senior team debut at the Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand back in 2016, she was part of the team that won the gold medal at the women’s Asia Cup in 2017 and featured in the Ready Steady Tokyo event in 2019. But the lockdown in 2020 had deeply impacted her mentally, so much that she had to eventually seek professional help.

“Covid lockdown was not kind to me. It was a tough phase personally and I am so glad that my struggle to stay strong mentally through this phase was recognized very early on by the team management and I was provided with professional help. Looking back, I am very grateful to Hockey India and my teammates for allowing me this break,” Sonika was quoted as saying by Hockey India.

However, she made a stellar comeback to the national set-up in 2021 on the back of a strong show at the national championships, and made it to the FIH Hockey Pro League. Since then, the 26-year-old has been a regular feature in the team, having played a part in the historic bronze medal win at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as well as the title win at the FIH Nations Cup 2022.

A fortnight ago, the seasoned midfielder was deeply touched by a special gesture from Hockey India, which conducted Sunehra Safar – a special send-off ceremony for the Asian Games contingent in Bengaluru. During the event, Sonika received her India jersey from her mother, who was flown in from Delhi.

“It was truly a special moment, especially to receive the jersey in front of a big audience which included all my teammates. Those few minutes on the stage brought back all the memories of my struggle and facing challenges to get here and my mother has been equally part of this journey – always supporting me at every crucial juncture,” said an emotional Sonika.

Commenting on her preparations for the showpiece event, scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 8 in the Chinese city, Sonika said: “I am extremely excited and eager to play my first ever Asian Games. I have put in a lot of hard work to reach this stage in my career and having picked up good results in major events like CWG, the team is very confident of a good show.”

“After Hockey India’s Sunehra Safar event, the team is all the more motivated and inspired to bring laurels to the country, as well as our families. Our focus is purely on winning the gold and doing well in the Paris Olympics 2024,” she added.

India is grouped in Pool A with Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong China and Singapore. They will begin their campaign on September 27 against Singapore.