Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday. With this, her 16 years came to an end. Rani, who made her debut in the Olympic qualifiers in 2008 at the age of 14, scored 205 goals in her 254 matches for India. Rani is a resident of Haryana. Rani told reporters in a press conference, “It has been a wonderful journey. I never thought that I would play for India for so long. I have seen a lot of poverty since childhood but my focus was always on representing the country.” Under Rani’s captaincy, the Indian team finished fourth in Tokyo
Under Rani’s captaincy, the Indian women’s hockey team achieved a historic fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which is the team’s highest Olympic ranking so far. Apart from this, she has played an important role in many major victories, including the silver medal in the 2017 Women’s Asian Cup and the silver medal in the 2018 Asian Games. Rani has been honored with many awards
Rani was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2016. In 2020, she received India’s highest sports honor Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna and the fourth highest Indian national honor Padma Shri. Rani was awarded the Best Young Player of the Tournament in the 2010 Women’s Hockey World Cup and Player of the Tournament in the 2013 Junior World Cup. Out of the team since the Tokyo Olympics
Rani has been out of the team since the Tokyo Olympics. After the Tokyo Olympics, the then coach Sjoerd Marijne stepped down from his post and was replaced by Yanek Schopman. It is believed that the relationship between Yanek and Rani was not good. During that time Rani Rampal was also struggling with injury. Due to this, despite scoring 18 goals in 6 matches in the National Games held in Gujarat in the year 2022, she did not return to Team India. Last year, she was made the coach of the junior women’s team
Rani Rampal was appointed the coach of the women’s team a year ago. Since then, it is being believed that her return is difficult. At the same time, in Hockey India’s Women’s League, she has been selected by Surma Club as a mentor and hockey coach.
