Daughter of a cart-puller and a maid, she had dozens of obstacles, could not get bearly two meals a day, secretly drank milk mixed with water at the coaching center, could not afford to take coaching, practiced with the broken hockey stick with Salwar Kameez and barefoot, she took the nation to the semifinals in the Tokyo Olympics. She has made the nation proud of her.
Indian women’s hockey team made history on Monday, reaching the semi-finals for the first time at the Olympics. India stunned World No.2 Australia by 1-0 in the quarterfinals to head towards the last four stages where they will face Argentina.
At the helm of the team’s historic performance was team Captain Rani Rampal who has a whole list of firsts to her name. From being the youngest player in the national team for the 2010 World Cup at the age of 15 to becoming the first-ever hockey player worldwide to win the prestigious ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ award, and now she leading the team towards a first-ever medal in women’s hockey at the Olympics. Rani, whose father used to earn Rs 80 per day was unable to provide hockey coaching at the nearby academy. She used to watch players playing for hours together. However, she used to ask the coach for training every time but he refused by saying she was not strong enough to pull through a practice session.
Belonging to Haryana’s Shahabad Markanda, one of the well-known nurseries of hockey in the country, it was never easy for the 26-year-old Rani to take up the sport due to her family’s financial constraints.
Training would start early; we didn’t have a clock, so mom would look at the sky to check if it was time to wake me up.
Rani said at the academy, it was mandatory for each player to bring 500 ml of milk. My family could only afford 200ml milk; so I’d mix the milk with water and drink it. My coach supported me; he’d buy me hockey kits and shoes. He even took care of my dietary needs. I wouldn’t miss a single day of practice”.
The first hurdle will be overcoming an Argentine side that disposed of Germany without much fuss. Win that match and the gold will be within touching distance.
