India, Oct. 16 -- "Champion! Champion! Champion!"

After the Indian women's hockey team defeated China 1-0 at the Asian Games this month, they had a victory dance in the locker room. The song: Champion, by Dwayne Bravo. There were shouts of joy. There were celebratory huddles. But there were barely any tears or disbelief. "Going into this tournament, our mindset was fixed from the beginning," says captain Salima Tete, 24. "We were going for gold, not silver."

It was an ambitious play. The last time Indian women lifted the Asian Games trophy for hockey was in 1982, when hockey was introduced at the Games. In May 2025, the 20-member team lost four out of their five matches on the Australia tour. The following month, they ended the FIH Pro ...