Did the Indian Women’s Asia Cup Win Remind You of ‘Chak De India’?

The Indian women’s hockey team won the 2017 Asia Cup in Japan, giving us flashbacks to Chak De India!

A victorious Indian women’s hockey team returned from Japan on Monday after defeating China 5-4 in a thrilling shootout on 4 November to lift the Asia Cup after 13 years.

And as they walked out of the airport to the beats of the dhol, we couldn’t help but remember the magic Shimit Amin had created a decade back in his movie Chak de India.

In it, the Indian women’s hockey team, that no one really spoke about back in 2007, was now being viewed on the big screen. 16 hockey players from 15 different states of India were shown representing one country in the World Cup under the guidance of Coach Kabir Khan aka Shahrukh Khan.

Here’s a look at the hockey stars that won India the continental trophy and the ones that were portrayed in the film.

In Chak de India, Balbir Kaur (played by Tanya Abrol), was a belligerent and feisty young girl from Punjab who was ready to pick a fight at the drop of a hat.

In the Indian women’s squad for the Asia Cup, Gurjit Kaur was the only player from Punjab. And barring the final, the 21-year-old scored in every game – with a total of 7 goals to her name.

The short and feisty Komal Chautala (played by Chitrashi Rawat) hailed from Haryana in the movie. In comparison, India’s Asia Cup squad had a total of six players from the state, including captain Rani Rampal, goalkeeper Savita Neha Goyal, Monika, Sonika and Navneet Kaur.

Molly Zimik (played by Masochon Zimik) was the sole player from Manipur while Sushila Chanu, who led the Indian women’s hockey team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was the sole player from Manipur in the Asia Cup squad.

A central character in the film, Kabir Khan (played by Shah Rukh) was an Indian hockey player, who had missed a match-winning penalty corner against Pakistan. Khan was then accused of betraying the country and was forced to distance himself from the game. Almost seven years later, when Khan showed interest in coaching the women’s hockey team, he was hired for the job ahead of the World Cup.

The real-life Indian women’s coach Harendra Singh too had played for India from 1985 to 1991, and had reportedly quit the game due to politics. However, Singh returned to the game in 1998 as a coach. The Dronacharya Awardee has since worked with the junior team as well as senior men’s team. However, it was the 2005 Junior World Cup that remains a highlight in Singh’s life.

Coaching a team that was a favourite to win the tournament, Singh was blamed for India missing out on a bronze medal due to bad selection of players. However, much like SRK in Chak de, Singh came back to coach the team and lead them to a gold at the Junior World Cup in 2016.

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