Ritu Rani
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India’s field hockey captain Ritu Rani began training towards a hockey career at the age of 12 – and her precocious talent would soon be seen on the world stage. At only 15 years old, Ritu became the youngest ever player in the Indian Senior Hockey team that played that year’s Hockey World Cup in Madrid, Spain.
She was again part of the national squad that won the 2009 Hockey Champions Challenge II, and was then the top-scorer at the tournament.
Ritu not only had goalscoring success but displayed a consistency in her gameplay that saw Hockey India appoint her the captain of the women’s national squad at only 19, a post she continues to hold to this day.
Under her captaincy, the team has qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – the first time in 36 years that the women’s national team has qualified.
