Sandhya Rai has already been to an Asian Games. She finished seventh. This time, she’s not just chasing a better result – she’s hunting down something inside her own game that she says has held her back before, and she’s naming it out loud before she’s even landed in Japan.
Ahead of her second Asian Games appearance, Rai was quick to correct the assumption that the team was already overseas. “Keep drinking water, whatever our nutrition is, whatever it is, and take a nap… so that when tomorrow is our season, we are ready, fresh.”
Bulking Up for Bigger Opponents
Asked about the physical transformation her S&C coach has spoken about, Rai described a deliberate push to raise her ceiling rather than simply maintain it. “Our SNC coach, our Kiano coach, he pushes us a lot. He plans our session like this. And even after our session is over, we do extra… we try to push more overload, because we don’t want to stay here. We have to raise our level.”
The payoff, she said, has been visible: “Now we are able to see that progress. Our body feels very good – that we are hitting more than this. So we get that motivation. In every gym session, we get more motivation, that we can hit more reps, we can lift more weight.”
Facing Physically Bigger Teams Without Flinching
With several of Asia’s rugby powers towering over India physically, Rai was asked how the team’s strategy adjusts against bigger opposition. Her answer leaned less on tactics and more on preparation and belief. “Whether big or small, it doesn’t matter that much for us. After every match, our coach has a technical session where we identify our teams – what is their strength, what is our strength, how do we play with them, what will be our game pattern, our game play. We do all these things beforehand, because we are prepared beforehand.”
Then came the line that cuts closest to the heart of her mentality heading into Nagoya: “As far as big or small is concerned, rugby is such a game – I am also small. But I personally say that I am not scared of anyone. I have been playing rugby for 13-14 years. I know that I have trust in my preparation. I have trust in my teammates. And we just go. No matter what happens in the future – our progress, our pattern, our game play, we have trust in that, and we just play.”
A Recognition That Arrived Right Before This Campaign
Rai recently received the Devi Award in Kolkata, and even that honor gets folded directly into her Asian Games mindset – not as a milestone to admire, but as validation of a body of work she now wants to complete on the biggest stage available to her.
The most striking moment of the conversation came when Rai was asked directly about her personal goal heading into the Games – and rather than deflect toward the team, she turned inward with unusual honesty. “My personal goal is that this time I have to give my best version. In some series, I was stepping back. Now I have to identify what is my trigger point – why I am not playing well. Now I have to do that thing well. I am working on that.”
She extended that same clarity to the collective. “As far as the team is concerned, we have identified – what are the things that we are not doing, and what we should do. So now we are set. Our mind is open. Now we have to go there and take it as an opportunity – whatever is there in Japan, with whoever we will play, as an opportunity. And we have to do that.”
A Goal She Isn’t Ready to Share Yet
Asked to name something more specific for herself in Japan, Rai kept it close, treating it almost as a private contract with herself. “Personal thing – I was just asking,” she said, before adding with quiet confidence: “And if I complete that thing, then I will tell you.”
Seventh place in Hangzhou is the number on record. What Rai is chasing this time isn’t just a better finish – it’s proof, to herself as much as anyone, that whatever caused her to “step back” in previous competition is something she’s identified and is actively dismantling before she ever steps onto Paloma Mizuho’s turf. For a vice-captain who says she isn’t scared of anyone regardless of size, the real opponent this time might be a version of her own game she’s determined not to let show up again.