India’s women’s hockey team coach and former captain Rani Rampal is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the sport. Her contribution to hockey was nothing less than a promising one. With a 16-year career, Rani’s journey is inspirational and filled with determination, coming from a poverty-stricken family to becoming a hockey icon.
Under her leadership, the Indian team was on a roll in the 2018 season. The team bagged a silver medal at the Asian Games, made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and finished at No. 4 in the Commonwealth Games.
Youngest Indian debutant
Rani made her debut for the Indian team at the age of 14 in the year 2008. She was the youngest hockey player to make a debut for India. But her journey to reach there wasn’t an easy one. Living in the village Shahbad, which is situated in Haryana, she grew up fighting the shackles of poverty and her father working as a cart-puller to earn a livelihood for the family.
Rani grew up idolizing hockey’s legendary Dhanraj Pillay and started training at the age of six in a local academy after getting permission to play and support from her parents. Her debut in the national team paid off the hard work that she and her family had put in with the decision to play hockey.
A year after her debut, she participated in the FIH Women’s Champions Challenge II where she was named ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ and the highest scorer of the team. The same year, the Indian team bagged a silver medal at the 2009 Asia Cup.
Youngest to debut at the World Cup
At the age of 15, she was named ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ in the 2010 World Cup and also the youngest debutant as part of the Indian squad. In the tournament, she scored five goals for the team.
She was also part of the squad in the 2013 Junior World Cup and played a major role in helping India finish in the third position at the 2014 Asian Games, bagging a bronze medal.
Led India to a historic 4th place finish at Tokyo 2020 Olympics
During her tenure as the captain, Rani led the Indian team to a fourth-place finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was their third Olympic appearance. The team, however, lost its match against Great Britain and missed the chance to win an Olympic bronze medal. Despite the loss, the qualification was the women’s team’s highest at an Olympic Games.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Rani scored the first goal for India, who started the tournament with a loss against the Netherlands by 5-1.
