Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career during which she became an inspiration for beating abject poverty and conservative views at a small town in Haryana where her father worked as a cart-puller.
The-29-year-old will sign off as one of India’s most decorated hockey players after leading the women’s team to its best-ever finish at the Olympics — a fourth place at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“It’s been an outstanding journey. I never thought I will play for so long for India. I have seen a lot of poverty from childhood but focus was always to do something, represent the country,” she told reporters here.
Hockey India (HI) decided to retire Rani’s jersey number 28 to honour her glorious career. She was also given Rs 10 lakh by HI.
A clinical forward, who made her international debut in 2008 as a 14-year-old in the Olympic qualifiers that year, Rani scored 205 goals in her 254 outings for India.
She was honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2020 and was also a recipient of the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award, in the same year.
She was recently roped in as the national coach for sub-junior women players.
Rani has also joined Soorma Hockey Club, representing Haryana and Punjab in the revamped Hockey India League, as the mentor of its women’s team.
The player from Shahabad, considered a cradle of Indian hockey, rose from abject poverty to make the national team.
Her father Ram Pal, who has been her guiding force, earned a mere Rs 80 per day and could not afford to even buy her a hockey stick.
She was rejected by a district level coach for being malnourished as a child but continued to practice with a broken hockey stick that she stumbled upon in a field.
Despite the many obstacles, including initial opposition from her conservative family, Rani made the local team as a six-year-old before becoming the youngest hockey player to turn up for India as a 14-year-old. Under Rani’s captaincy, the Indian women’s team qualified for the quarterfinal of the 2018 World Cup in London and also won the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games.
She also led the team to victory in the 2019 FIH Series Finals and was a key contributor in the Indian team’s back-to-back appearance in the Olympics.
Her only unfulfilled dream is an Olympic podium finish. (PTI)
