Indian women’s Hockey Team won the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup, 2017 and qualified for the 2018 Hockey World Cup in England. Here’s a look at the team which made it possible for India to get back their title of Continental Champions after 13 years.
Credits: Wikipedia
1. Rani Rampal (Captain)
Rani Rampal who belongs to the Shahbad Markanda in the Kurukshetra District of Haryana was the youngest player at the age of 15 to play in National Team which participated in 2010 World Cup. Rani started playing field hockey in 2003 at the Shahbad Hockey Academy under a Dronocharya Awardee coach Baldev Singh.
Rampal’s family struggled to make ends meet and could not afford to buy her favoured hockey stick, but eventually, they found a way to support her dreams. She was given monetary and non-monetary support by Go Sportsfoundation, a non-governmental sports organization once she started her professional career.
In the world cup, she scored a total of six goals which earned India 9th position in the Women’s World Hockey Ranking. She was conferred “Best Young Player of the Tournament” award for being the top field goal scorer in the tournament. Rani was awarded the title of “Top Goal Scorer” and “Young Player of the Tournament” in the Champion’s Challenge Tournament held in Kazan, Russia in June 2009.
She played a major role in winning a silver medal in Asia Cup held in 2009. She is the only Indian to be nominated in the International Federation of Hockey (FIH) Women’s Young Player of the Year Award, 2010. She was also adjudged as the “Player of the Tournament” in 2013 Junior World Cup. She has also achieved FICCI Comeback of the Year Award, 2014.
She led the Indian Women’s Hockey Team in the Ninth Asia Cup, 2017 held in Kakamigahara, Gifu, Japan. She plays as a Forward in the team. She scored three goals in the tournament, twice in the opening match of Pool A against Singapore and then once against China in the final match against China. Rani scored the winning penalty which sealed India’s win in the final. She scored twice in the penalty shootout.
Credits: Sticktohockey.com
2. Savita Punia (Vice-Captain, Goal-Keeper)
Punia was born in Jodhkan village of Sirsa, Haryana. She was encouraged to play field hockey as a sport by her grandfather Mahinder Singh. Inspired by her grandfather, she joined the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Hisar.
She was coached by Sunder Singh Kharab during her early years. Being from a State that is known to have a conservative attitude towards women she had to face many barriers in order to achieve her dream. She first represented India at the age of 17 and qualified for the National Team in 2007.
In 2009, she was a part of Indian Hockey Team for the Junior Asia Cup. She has played for the country in more than 100 games at the international level and she has 121 International caps to her credit for her country. In 2015 Savita was awarded Rs 1 lakh for her selfless contribution to the team which helped the Indian Women’s Team to qualify for the Rio Olympics, 2016.
She was awarded the Baljit Singh Goalkeeper of the Year Award at the Hockey India Annual Awards, 2015. In an earlier interview this year with Sportskeeda the Vice-captain claimed that she still has to borrow money from her parents for her daily needs because she did not get a job promised by the Haryana Government under the “Medal Lao, Naukri Pao” scheme.
In the ninth Asia Cup 2017, she held the position of Vice–Captain of the Indian Team and she was also the Goalkeeper for the team. She ensured that in their total of 6 matches in the tournament, India ended up conceding just five goals. Savita won the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award in the tournament for her spectacular performance.
Credits: Hockeyindia.org
3. Sushila Chanu Pukhramban
Pukhramban who plays as a halfback for the team hails from Manipur. She started playing hockey at the age of 11 and was soon selected for the National Camp.
Chanu led the junior women’s hockey team to a bronze medal finish at the Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup held at Monche3.25-36.25-93.5l-112.5-0.5c-6.5 14.5-31.75 80-31.75 89.5 0 19.25 36.75 20 51 22 0.25 4.75 0.25 9.5 0.25 14.5 0 2.25-0.25 4.5-0.5 6.75-29 0-58.25-5-87.25-5-3.5 0-8.5 1.5-12 2-15.75 2.75-31.25 3.5-47 3.5z">