Former India captain Rani Rampal announces retirement

Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career.

Rani, who captained India to a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, will be the mentor and coach of Soorma Hockey Club of Punjab and Haryana in the upcoming women’s Hockey India League (HIL) which will make its debut later this year.

“It’s been an outstanding journey. I never thought I would play for so long for India. I have seen a lot of poverty from childhood but the focus was always to do something, represent the country,” she told reporters in a press conference.

Despite making a strong comeback from a hamstring injury after the Tokyo Olympics, Rani was out of favour with former coach Janneke Schopman and didn’t feature much for the national team.

She was recently roped in as the national coach for sub-junior women players.

More to follow…