Bengaluru, June 3 (UNI) Indian Women's Hockey Team Skipper Rani Rampal on Wednesday stated that she feels extremely honoured for being nominated by Hockey India for the country's highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Rani who is currently based here in SAI Centre, along with all the senior women's core probables group said, "It is great to constantly be backed by my family no matter what the circumstances are and I also thank the hockey fraternity especially Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne for being very supportive."
"These are difficult times (referring to Covid-19 pandemic) for all, but we have come closer as a team in this period. I have received a lot of messages and good wishes during the nationwide lockdown and it is this support that will ensure we comeback in a strong way."
Hockey India on Tuesday also announced the nomination of both Vandana Katariya and Monika from the Indian Women's Hockey Team and Harmanpreet Singh from the Indian Men's Hockey Team for the Arjuna Award.
The period of consideration for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is between January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019.
Rani played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped in India's qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
She also led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, and silver at the 2018 Asian Games. The team also climbed to a career-best FIH World Ranking of No 9.
She further stated the collective support from the hockey fraternity will ensure that team achieves something special on the world stage.
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