Asia: ~ Salima Tete was honoured at the Hockey India 6th Annual Awards 2023 ~_

New Delhi, 4th April 2024: Indian Women’s Hockey Team midfielder Salima
Tete won the prestigious Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player
of The Year 2023 award in the Women’s category at the Hockey India 6th
Annual Awards 2023, which took place in the national capital on Sunday.

Salima, who grew up to be an integral part of the team over the past
year, was recognized for her consistent showing throughout the year. The
23-year-old was also a part of India’s Bronze medal-winning Asian Games
Hangzhou 2022 team and scored 1 goal in the tournament. Salima also
scored 5 goals at the Jharkhand Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi
2023, helping India win the trophy, and was also named the Player of the
Tournament.

Salima, who hails from Simdega district of Jharkhand, expressed her
delight on winning the award and said, “It feels great to be recognised
with the huge award for the first time in my career. This is a big
honour and will be a huge motivation for me throughout my career.”

“The award has instilled a desire in me to perform even better. I plan
to not miss even a single minute at the training camp and give my 100
per cent at every session. I know that I have won the award, but it is
also now a responsibility for me to live up to the honour and grow and
improve even further,” Salima added.

Salima made her debut for the Indian Senior Women’s Hockey Team in 2016
in the Australia vs India Test matches in Melbourne, but then had to
wait for three years to become a regular feature for the side. Having
donned 107 International Caps so far for the Senior team, Salima has
scored 15 goals in her career.

She was part of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team that earned the historic
fourth-placed finish at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and also helped her
team win the Bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022. She was also a
key player of the team that won the Gold medal at the inaugural FIH
Hockey Women’s Nations Cup Spain 2022, scoring 5 goals for India in 5
games.

Alongside the award, Salima was also presented with a cheque of INR 25
Lakh. The midfielder expressed gratitude to Hockey India for the gesture
and explained how the prize will further help her family.

“When my family heard that I have been presented the award, they were
also really proud of me. As part of the honour, we also receive cash
incentives, which is also a huge thing for me. When I win this money, my
family win this money. I express my gratitude to Hockey India for making
such provisions, and because of their support, I am able to provide and
help my family members in our day-to-day lives,” Salima said.

Salima further said that these awards further motivate youngsters to
perform better and also inspire the new generation to pick up the sport
of hockey.

“When youngsters see that the players are getting recognised for their
performances, they also get motivated to perform better. The players
realise that the national body is really supporting us and this is what
we want at all times. It also inspires the young generation to pick up
hockey as a sport when they see the level of support being provided by
Hockey India and they also strive to work towards similar goals,” Salima
signed off.