Nickname"Golden Girls of Hockey"
"Assi jaisi koi nahi" ConfederationAsian Hockey Federation (Asia)
India women s hockey team beats china 2 1 wins asian champions trophy
The Indian women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Golden Girls of Hockey) is the national women's team that represents India in international field hockey competitions. The team is currently coached by Australia's Neil Hawgood and led by halfback Ritu Rani from Haryana and is currently ranked 12th in the FIH World Rankings.
The team's breakthrough performance came at the Women's Hockey World Cup at Mandelieu in 1974, where it finished in 4th place. Their best performance in the Olympic Games was at 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics (where they came in 4th), when a women's event was held for the first time in Olympic history. The team also won the Gold medal at the inaugural 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi, defeating Korea in the finals. Captain Suraj Lata Devi led the team to the Gold for three consecutive years at different events- during the 2002 Commonwealth Games the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. Team members were referred to as the "assi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi" or the "Golden Girls of Hockey," after the 2004 win. The team earned a 3rd-place finish at the 2013 Women's Hockey Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur defeating China in a shootout. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, it finished in 5th place but at 2014 Asian Games, Incheon stunned Japan 2-1 in a tight match to clinch their third bronze medal at the Asian Games. During the summer of 2015, the team hosted the Round 2 of the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League and finished on top to qualify for the next stage. At the World League Semifinals held in Antwerp the team finished in the fifth place beating higher ranked Japan in classification match. The Indian woman's national field hockey team qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics for the first time since the 1980 Summer Olympics. They were eliminated in the group stage, however, where they placed 6th.
2002 Commonwealth Games and Chak De! India (2007)
The 2002 Commonwealth Games Squad, led by Captain Suraj Lata Devi, competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The team entered the finals after defeating the Australian women's national field hockey team and placed first, winning the Gold after they beat the English women's hockey team.
This event served as the inspiration for the 2007 Bollywood film about women's field hockey, Chak De! India starring Shah Rukh Khan (after screenwriter Jaideep Sahni read a short article about it). Sahani began to model the character of Kabir Khan on hockey coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik. After hearing the storyline, Kaushik suggested that Sahani meet hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi (who faced accusations of throwing the match against Pakistan during the 1982 Asian Games). Sahani has stated that he was unaware of Negi's tribulations while writing the script and that the resemblance with Negi's life was entirely coincidental. Negi affirmed this point stating that he didn't "want to hog the limelight. This movie is not a documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi's life. It is in fact the story of a team that becomes a winning lot from a bunch of hopeless girls". In response to the fact that the media equated Kabir Khan with Negi, Sahani said that "Our script was written a year and a half back. It is very unfortunate that something, which is about women athletes, has just started becoming about Negi."
Summer Olympics
4th - 1980 – Moscow (Squad)
12th - 2016 – Rio de Janeiro
World Cup
4th - 1974 – Mandelieu
7th - 1978 - Madrid
11th - 1983 - Kuala Lumpur
12th - 1998 – Utrecht (Squad)
11th - 2006 – Madrid (Squad)
9th - 2010 – Rosario(Squad)
World League
14th - 2012–13
10th - 2014–15
Commonwealth Games
4th - 1998 - Kuala Lumpur
01 ! - 2002 – Manchester (Squad)
02 ! - 2006 – Melbourne (Squad)
5th - 2010 – New Delhi (Squad)
5th - 2014 – Glasgow
Asian Games
01 ! - 1982 – New Delhi
03 ! - 1986 – Seoul
4th - 1990 – Beijing
4th - 1994 – Hiroshima
02 ! - 1998 – Bangkok
4th - 2002 - Busan
03 ! - 2006 – Doha (Squad)
4th - 2010 – Guangzhou
03 ! - 2014 - Incheon
Asia Cup
4th - 1989 – New Delhi
03 ! - 1993 – Hiroshima
02 ! - 1999 – New Delhi
01 ! - 2004 – New Delhi, India
4th - 2007 - Hong Kong
02 ! - 2009 – Bangkok
03 ! - 2013 - Kuala Lumpur
Champions Challenge
03 ! - 2002 – Johannesburg
7th - 2011 – Dublin
7th - 2012 – Dublin
8th - 2014 – Glasgow
Asian Champions Trophy
03 ! - 2010 – Busan
4th - 2011 – Ordos
02 ! - 2013 – Kakamigahara
01 ! - 2016 - Singapore
Afro-Asian Games
01 ! - 2003 – Hyderabad
Awards
Summer Olympics
During the 2008 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier, the team ranked fourth in the "Qualifying Two" event. Rani Devi received the Most Promising Young Player of the Tournament award. (Squad)
Hockey World Cup
During the 2001 Women's Hockey World Cup Qualifier, the team ranked 7th Sanggai Chanu received the Young Player of the Tournament award. (Squad)
Hockey Champions Challenge
During the 2002 Hockey Champions Challenge, Jyoti Sunita Kullu received the Topscorer award for five goals. (Squad)
Dhyan Chand Award
Mary Dsouza Sequeira (1953-1963)
Arjuna Awards
The following is a list of recipients for the Arjuna award in hockey recipients (by year):
Helen Mary, 2004
Suraj Lata Devi (former captain), 2003
Mamta Kharab, 2002
Madhu Yadav, 2000
Tingonleima Chanu, 2000
S. Omana Kumari, 1998
Pritam Rani Siwach (former captain), 1998
Prem Maya Sonir, 1985
Rajbir Kaur, 1984
Varsha Soni, 1981
Eliza Nelson, 1980–81
Lorraine Fernandes 1976–1977
A. Kaur, 1975–76
Dr. Otilia Mascarenhas 1973–74
Sunita Puri, 1966
Elvira Britto 1965
Yvonne Smith 1962
Anne Lumsden, 1961
Current squad
The following is the Indian roster in the women's field hockey tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. ‹See Tfd›