Rani Rampal, the former captain of India’s women’s hockey team, has announced her retirement from professional hockey. This marks the end of an illustrious 16-year career, during which she led the team to historic milestones, including a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games and victory in the 2019 FIH Series Finals Ā¹.
Rani’s journey is truly inspiring, having overcome significant socio-economic challenges to reach the pinnacle of Indian hockey. Born in Shahabad, Haryana, her father worked as a cart-puller, and she practiced with a broken hockey stick as a child due to financial constraints Ā¹. Despite these challenges, she remained determined and went on to play 254 matches and score 205 goals for India Ā¹.
Some of Rani Rampal’s notable achievements:
- Led India to a historic fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics
- Won a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games
- Victory in the 2019 FIH Series Finals
- Recipient of prestigious awards, including the Padma Shri and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2020 Ā¹
Rani has expressed her unfulfilled dream of seeing the Indian women’s hockey team stand on the Olympic podium Ā¹. Though she’s retiring as a player, she’s already embarked on her next journey as a coach with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and will mentor Delhi’s team in the revamped Hockey India League Ā² Ā¹.