Rani Rampal, one of India's greatest ever sportspersons, played a pivotal role in improving the standards of the women's hockey team. Her career began at age 14 in 2009 and culminated in India's fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was the captain.
The stats - 205 goals in 254 international matches - underline her legendary status as a player, but her true value lies in the fact that it's been three years since she last played regularly for India - and it's a hole the national team is struggling to fill even now.
How it started for Rani
To understand Rani the player, it's also important to know her journey. Born in small-town Haryana, Rani came from a family of limited means, where eating two meals a day was itself a luxury. Her father was a cart puller, and her mother a domestic help. Their meagre income was far from enough to sustain their daughter's hockey dream.
But Rani fell in love with the sport early on and there was no looking back. She convinced her family that hockey is her calling and also her Dronacharya award-winning coach Baldev Singh who once told her that she's too thin and brittle to take up hockey.
The early rejection and the family hardships only fueled her ambition. Once she stepped on the pitch and started playing regularly for the local academy, her talent was evident, and she went from sub junior level to international hockey in a quick time.
The start of her international career
She was only 14 when she wore the senior national team jersey in 2009 and within a year's time, she would shine on one of the biggest stages. In 2010, merely 15, Rani scored seven goals in six matches at the World Cup in Argentina, finishing second highest goal-scorer in the tournament and being recognised the best young player of the tournament.
During this time, India's women's hockey team were struggling to make their mark at the international level. Even qualifying for the World Cup and Olympics was a tough task, but the rise of Rani also contributed to the rise of the team's fortunes.
It was Rani's goals at the 2014-15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals, which was also the Olympic qualifier tournament, that helped her team qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1980. She scored four goals but the crucial ones came against Italy and Japan which helped India make it to the Rio Games.
�� Happy Retirement, Rani Rampal! ��
From the streets of Shahabad to the pinnacle of Indian women's hockey, Rani's journey is one of grit and determination. Debuting at just 15, she led India to unforgettable victories, including the 2010 Asian Games, 2017 Asia Cup gold, and a... pic.twitter.com/x6JlpHwnGx
- Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 24, 2024
Reaching the pinnacle
Post 2016, the Indian women's hockey team were pushing to win the titles at the continental level. In 2016, Rani was part of the team that won the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time and then in 2017, she scored three times as captain to help India win the Asia Cup in Japan.
In fact, in the final, it was Rani who scored twice in the shootout against China. A year later, Rani and her team won the silver at the Asian Games.
It was around this time that Rani's game was also reaching its peak. She evolved from a pure goalscorer to someone capable of dropping back and creating chances in the final third. More than the goals and the creative ability, what stood out was her exceptional work rate on the pitch. As modern hockey became more and more attacking, Rani adapted to the changing nature and became an example to the rest of the team. She met the high physical standards that the game demanded and pushed others to do the same.
At the same time, she became a big game player, delivering when her team needed the most. Her coach Baldev Singh had said she always had the 'killer instinct' and that's what made her standout than the rest. Rani preserved that instinct till the final days of her playing career.
Like it happened during the qualification for the 2016 Rio Games, Rani once again proved crucial for India's qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. In the all-important qualifier against Janneke Schopman's USA, India were trailing 0-4, which meant the aggregate was 5-5 (after India's 5-1 win in the first leg). With 90 seconds to go, Rani collected a rebound, calmly turned and beat the goalkeeper with a fierce hit that took India to Tokyo.
An emotional farewell for Rani Rampal as she announces her retirement from international hockey. Honored during the India vs Germany Bilateral Hockey Series, she received a ₹10 lakh award in recognition of her legendary contributions to Indian hockey. A true icon bids adieu to... pic.twitter.com/iFqoSBz7CE
- Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 24, 2024
The Tokyo Games
Rani was already a legend in her own right, but the biggest highlight of her career came at the Tokyo Olympics. Under her captaincy, the Indian hockey team made it all the way to the bronze medal match and eventually finished fourth, their best-ever at the Olympics.
Rani's contribution at the Games was not about the goals. It's what she did in the previous years that resulted in a stunning performance by the team at the sport's biggest stage. By the time the Tokyo Games came about, Rani was already an inspiration for her teammates. She was always talented, but she took her game a notch above putting a lot of hard work during practice sessions. For the likes of youngsters like Lalremsiami, Salima Tete, Navneet Kaur and Sharmila Devi, there was no better example than their Rani didi. She was there with them in the dressing room and on the pitch.
The Tokyo 2020 team, under Sjoerd Marijne, played the way Rani always does. They used their talent, but more importantly, they played with great courage and worked very hard on the pitch.
The aftermath
The Tokyo glory was supposed to be a gamechanger for Indian women's hockey and Rani was supposed to be at the centre of it. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.
Years of toil had taken a toll on Rani's body. She couldn't get back into the team after the Olympics because of injuries and ended up playing just one match till the end of 2022. She missed the World Cup, where India finished ninth and the Commonwealth Games, where they won the bronze.
Even after she recovered after injuries, the new India coach Schopman didn't consider her good enough. She made her return to the national setup for the series against South Africa in January 2023 but that was that. Those four matches she played in South Africa will remain her last for the national team.
"Whatever happened with me wasn't right in the last two years. I came back from an injury, was the top scorer at the National Games but wasn't picked," she told back in 2023 after taking up the head coach role of the Indian national sub-junior (under-17) women's team.
Her absence on the pitch was evident as India struggled to score. While the team played attacking hockey under Schopman, goal-scoring became a prominent issue for the team. Ultimately, India failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics, almost three years after coming close to clinch an Olympic medal.
Rani's playing career didn't end on a fairytale note but it's no less inspirational. The Rani Rampal era has officially come to an end on Thursday but this is just the start of her enduring legacy.