Rani Rampal, the former captain of the Indian women's hockey team, will not be part of the core 34-member squad for the Asian Games 2022, as revealed by Hockey India on Saturday.
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Rani Rampal, the former captain of the Indian women’s hockey team, will not be part of the core 34-member squad for the Asian Games 2022, as revealed by Hockey India on Saturday. The 28-year-old Rampal has an impressive record of 120 goals, with 254 international matches under her belt.
Her leadership propelled the Indian women’s team to a remarkable fourth-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Having debuted at the age of 14 in 2009, Rani Rampal‘s career has been stellar, with 120 goals to her name. In addition, she was the youngest in the Indian team that competed in the Hockey World Cup in 2010.
However, the year 2022 was challenging for Rampal as injuries kept her away from the field, resulting in her missing the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. During her absence, Savita Punia, the experienced goalkeeper, filled the leadership void and guided the Indian team to a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
In India’s tour of South Africa earlier this year, Rampal marked her return to the field where she participated in four Test matches and amassed three goals. Despite her comeback, she has remained out of the Indian lineup, with Savita Punia continuing as the captain. In addition to her playing career, Rampal was recently appointed as the coach of India’s under-17 team.
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However, Rani clarified her new role in a statement and said “I am not retiring since I know I still have more to give to the sport as a player. I have this thing in me to not give up. If I had to, I would have given up after the Olympics. I accepted this (the coaching role) since it is a short-term programme.”
Indian women’s hockey team’s chief coach Janneke Schopman was confident in the team’s development and stated, “We have showcased in our recent competitions that we are growing as a team and are constantly learning. We will focus on ensuring all the players are comfortable in playing the kind of hockey that we want to play. It is important that all of us are on the same page before the all-important competition ahead for us.”
The core group for the Asian Games 2022 is scheduled to have a national camp from August 13, 2023, at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru. The training camp will conclude on September 18, just ahead of the Asian Games’ commencement in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China. The Indian women’s team will face Singapore in their first match on September 27.
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