The internet is flooded with congratulations for the Indian Women Hockey Players who have performed well in this Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately, the team finished fourth and lost the Bronze medal match. However, it was enough to win the hearts of billions. Here are the interesting stories of the Indian Women Hockey Players who proved their talent.
1. Rani Rampal
Rani Rampal was the youngest player in the national team who played at the age of 15 in the 2010 World Cup. She belonged to a poor and very humble family. Her father pulled carts, and his earnings may be Rs 100 per day, and her mother worked as a house help. She got inspired from seeing the players playing hockey. She used to play with a broken hockey stick as she couldn’t afford a stick. After playing in this Tokyo Olympic, she gets congratulations from everyone. In 2020, she was honored with the Padma Shri award from the Government of India. During an interview with The Better India, she said,
“I grew up in a place where young women and girls were restricted to the four walls of their home. So, when I expressed my wish to play hockey, neither my parents nor my relatives supported me. My parents come from a humble background and weren’t very educated. They did not think sports could be a career path, not for girls at least. Besides, my relatives would often tell my father, ‘What will she do playing hockey? She will run around the field wearing a short skirt and bring a bad name to your family’.”
2. Lalremsiami
Lalremsiami was born into the family of the agriculturist in Mizoram. Her father is a farmer, and her mother is a homemaker. She joined the National Hockey Academy in 2016 in New Delhi. Lalremsiami is the first Indian woman who got the FIH rising star award.
She has a communication problem with English or Hindi, and her teammates support her. She is the first sportsperson from Mizoram to win an Asian medal. Lalremsiami won silver at the Asian Games.
3. Vandana Katariya
Vandana Katariya was born in Roshnabad, Uttarakhand. Her father, Nahar Singh, worked as a Master Technician in Bhel, Haridwar, who was recently passed away before the Tokyo Olympics starts. He also was a wrestler. She was the top goal-scorer in the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup. She was a part of the Indian Team that played the 2014 Asian Games and the 2016 Rio Olympics. Vandana is the first Indian woman who scored a hat-trick at the Olympics.
4. Deep Grace Ekka
Deep Grace Ekka was born in a small village called Lulkiidhi in Odisha. All her family members, like her father, uncle, elder brothers, were all hockey players. So the hockey was in her blood itself. She played her first senior nationals in Sonepat when she was 16 years old. In 2011, she played in the 34th National games at Ranchi. In 2014, she won the bronze medal in the Asian Games.
