The Indian women's hockey team has made history by making it to the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics. The team has achieved this feat for the first time in 41 years. These 16 players showed a perfect example to this and upcoming generations and have scripted history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the Olympics history.
Team India faced three-time champions and world no. 2 women’s hockey Australia team and defeated them by 1-0 on Monday.
Here is the brief profile of magnificent 16:
Rani Rampal (C) – Rani made her international debut at the age of 14. Last year in December she turned 26. She is the captain of the women’s hockey team. Rani belongs to a poor family her father used to run tonga and her mother worked at people’s homes as a house help. She started her career with a broken stick and now she is a junior world cup bronze-medallist, two-time Asian Games medallist and has been an integral part of the Indian team which has qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympics for the first time ever.
Gurjit Kaur – Gurjit plays a dual role in the women’s hockey team, she plays as a defender as well as a designated drag-flicker. Her goals have pushed the country towards significant victories, during the latest match in the quarter-finals of the Olympics; the only goal was scored by Gurjit.
Gurjit, a 25-year-old, hails from a village in Amritsar, Punjab; she belongs to a farming family.
Her father Satnam Singh was very serious about the daughter's education. Gurjit and his sister Pradeep took their early education from a private school in the village and were later enrolled in a boarding school located in Tarn Taran. Gurjeet's dream of hockey started from there. However, making Gurjeet a hockey player was not easy for his family. His father sold his motorcycle to buy a hockey kit for his daughter.
Salima Tete – Salima plays as a mid-fielder. She hails from the Simdega district, one of the worst Maoist affected districts in Jharkhand. She was the team’s skipper during Youth Olympics 2018 and at that time Indian women’s team won the silver medal. Tete started her practice with wooden sticks because of the lack of financial support.
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Sister Anima worked as a maid in Bangalore to make Salima's dream come true. When Salima went to play the hockey world championship, she did not even have a trolley bag. But her hard work paid off and now she has got a government job.
Nikki Pardhan – Nikki Pardhan was added to the team in Tokyo Games, she is a midfielder from Jharkhand's Khunti district. The 27-year-old player has won more than 100 caps for India. Nikki’s mother used to take her for training.
Vandhana Katariya – Vandhana plays as forward. Vandana Kataria scored a hat-trick in a pool match against South Africa and became India’s first player to do so. She hails from Roshanabad, Haridwar. Nikki’s father, Nahar Singh, always supported his daughter and ignored the societal pressure. Her father died three months ago and she wasn’t able to attend his last rites because of her training.
Navjot Kaur – Navjot plays as a mid-fielder and she made her debut in 2012 since then she is part of the team and has achieved several victories for India. Navjot studied at Kurukshetra University and trained for hockey at Baldev Singh's academy in Shahabad. In her first tournament at the Under-19 level, she topped the list. She has represented India in more than 100 international hockey matches.
Navjot Kaur belongs to Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Her father is a mechanic by profession and her mother is a house maker.
Savita Punia – Goalkeeper Savita Poonia hails from the Sirsa district of Haryana. Her grandfather Ranjit Singh wanted her to become a hockey player. Father Mahendra Singh Poonia said that Savita has made all of us proud, but her victory is dedicated to her late grandfather Ranjit Singh. Because it was his heartfelt desire that his granddaughter should serve the country by participating in sports.
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Today she is the “Wall of India,” she has played more than 200 international matches including Asian Games (2014 and 2018) as well as the Asia Cup medal (2017).
Navneet Kaur – Team India's forward Navneet Kaur is from Shahabad town of Haryana. She expressed her desire to play hockey in the fifth grade itself. Navneet Kaur has won the bronze medal in the Junior World Cup in 2013, Gold Medal in Asian Cup in 2017, Silver in Asian Games in 2018, 4th place in Commonwealth Games in 2018 she had also qualified for the Senior World Cup in 2018, the Olympics in 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
She faced a setback in May when she suffered from Coronavirus but now she has returned to the field with a bang!
Nisha Warsi – Nisha plays as a midfielder, she has played her debut match in 2019 at FIH Women’s Series Finals in Hiroshima. Her family was not financially strong but they always supported the dreams of their daughter.
Neha Goyal – Neha plays as a mid-fielder. Neha belongs to Sonepat, Haryana. Her father did not have the means of earning. A friend of hers suggested that playing hockey would provide good shoes and clothes. She took up a hockey stick since she was in the sixth grade. After winning the district-level match, he got a reward of two thousand rupees, after this, Neha did not look back.
Udita Duhan – Udita plays as defender. Udita belongs to Sirsa, Haryana and she made her debut in 2017 during India’s tour to New Zealand. Udita grabbed the hockey stick to fulfill her father's dream, she was earlier a handball player. When her handball coach did not come to school for a few days, she tried her hand at hockey and since then has been a part of this sport. In 2016, she also became the captain of the junior team.
Sharmila Devi – She plays as a defender. She has played only nine games for India. Due to the poor financial condition of the family, she was unable to pursue her hockey dream. But when she was in the fourth grade, she met her coach Parveen Sihag, who helped her at every level and made her an international level player.
Lalremsiami – She is one of the youngest players of her team. She belongs to Mizoram and she is the first from her state to represent India in the Olympic Games. “Siami,” as she is fondly called by her teammates, helped India secure a historic silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
In June 2019, when she was with the team, her father expired. Despite this, she decided to stay with the team and took part in the FIH Women's Hockey Series.
Deep Grace Ekka – She plays as a defender and is a former goalkeeper. She wanted to become a goalkeeper after she started playing at the age of 12. She was inspired by her elder brother Dinesh. Like her other teammates, she has also started playing with wooden sticks. The 27-year-old is a two-time Asian Games medallist and an Asian Cup winner.
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Monika Malik – Monika is a creative mid-fielder and is popular as the backbone of the team. She belongs to the Sonepat district of Haryana. Monika started playing hockey during the 8th grade. However, his father wanted her to become a wrestler but after seeing his daughter's interest in hockey, he motivated her for the game and now Monica is now the star midfielder of the team.
Reena Khokar – Reena khokar plays as a forward. She belongs to Mohali. She got selected in team India in 2017. She has earned 45 caps for team India. In 2019, due to an accident during a gym session, Reena's career was on the verge of ending. She suffered from an injury to her left eye and was afraid of loss of vision. But, Reena made a strong comeback and now with her strong game, has brought India closer to the medal.