Yearender 2021: A fairytale year for Rani Rampal-led Indian Women’s Hockey Team

The
Indian
eves
became
the
first
of
India’s
hockey
teams
to
return
to
international
hockey
after
the
pandemic-enforced
hiatus
disrupted
the
calendar.
The
team
began
the
Olympic
year
2021
with
Argentina
tour
in
January,
followed
by
a
four-match
Germany
tour
in
February.

After
having
spent
the
following
months
at
SAI
Centre
in
Bengaluru,
the
Indian
Women’s
Hockey
team
went
on
to
script
history
at
the
Tokyo
Olympics
in
August
2021.

Rani-led
India,
who
started
their
campaign
with
three
losses,
pulled
off
arguably
one
of
the
biggest
upsets
in
world
hockey
as
they
defeated
the
mighty
Australian
side
in
what
was
their
historic
Quarter-Final
encounter
of
the
Olympic
Games.
However,
they
missed
out
on
a
medal
by
a
whisker
as
they
narrowly
lost
in
both
Semi-Final
and
the
Bronze
Medal
classification
matches
against
Argentina
and
Great
Britain,
respectively.

Looking
back
at
the
dream
year,
the
Indian
Women’s
Hockey
Team
Captain
Rani
expressed,
“This
year
was
like
an
emotional
roller
coaster,
full
of
ups
and
downs.
But,
to
be
honest,
we
really
enjoyed
the
ride
as
it
included
the
historic
Tokyo
Olympics
campaign.
I
reckon
2021
was
full
of
self-belief
and
determination.
There
were
a
lot
of
learnings
involved,
and
COVID-19
taught
us
invaluable
life
lessons.
One
of
them
was
to
stay
in
the
present
moment.
Staying
in
the
present
moment
helped
us
qualify
for
the
Quarter
Final
as
well
as
beat
a
team
like
Australia
to
script
the
history.”

Following
their
historic
performance
in
Tokyo,
the
Indian
Women’s
team
bagged
FIH
Hockey
Stars
Awards
2021
in
all
categories.
Dragflicker
Gurjit
Kaur
won
the
FIH
Women’s
Player
of
The
Year
award,
Goalkeeper
Savita
won
the
FIH
Women’s
Goalkeeper
of
the
Year
award,
Sharmila
Devi
clinched
the
FIH
Women’s
Rising
Star
of
the
Year
award,
and
former
Indian
Women’s
Hockey
Chief
Coach
Sjoerd
Marijne
was
awarded
the
FIH
Women’s
Team
Coach
of
the
Year.

Additionally,
members
of
the
women’s
team
were
conferred
with
national
awards
in
November
2021.
Skipper
Rani
was
honoured
with
Padma
Shri,
the
country’s
fourth-highest
civilian
award,
while
experienced
forward
Vandana
Katariya
and
midfielder
Monika
were
conferred
with
the
Arjuna
award.

“We
were
really
disappointed
when
we
missed
out
on
winning
the
Bronze
medal.
It
was
heartbreaking,
but
when
we
returned
to
India,
we
slowly
realised
the
magnitude
of
that
fourth-place
finish.
It
is
really
a
big
thing
for
Indian
Women’s
hockey.
I
think
all
these
awards
and
accolades
are
an
outcome
of
all
the
hard
work
and
sacrifices
made
by
the
team
over
the
years.
It
has
also
boosted
our
confidence.
It
will
certainly
motivate
us
to
do
well,
and
make
the
country
proud
again,”
said
Rani.

The
27-year-old
further
added,
“The
constant
support
and
encouragement
from
the
Sports
Authority
of
India,
Ministry
of
Youth
Affairs
and
Sports
(MYAS)
and
the
Odisha
State
Government
have
helped
us
excel
at
the
Olympics.
They
have
been
one
of
the
biggest
reasons
behind
the
rise
of
Indian
Women’s
Hockey,
and
we
are
really
grateful
for
the
undying
support.”

The
Indian
Women’s
hockey
team,
who
had
also
achieved
their
highest-ever
FIH
World
ranking
(World
No.
8)
in
August,
will
end
the
year
in
the
ninth
spot
as
per
the
latest
FIH
World
rankings.

Speaking
of
the
year
2022,
skipper
Rani
said
that
the
team’s
goal
will
be
to
build
on
the
historic
Olympics
campaign.

“We
have
set
the
benchmark
for
ourselves,
and
from
hereon,
we
will
have
to
do
even
better.
We
want
to
build
on
the
historic
campaign.
2022
will
be
a
very
crucial
year
as
we
have
important
tournaments
lined
up.
We
will
look
to
qualify
directly
for
the
Paris
Olympics
2024
by
clinching
gold
at
Asian
Games
2022.
But,
for
that,
we
will
have
to
go
step-by-step,
and
our
first
step
will
be
to
do
well
at
Women’s
Asia
Cup
2022,”
concluded
Rani.

Source:
HI
Release