Interview: My parents struggled to buy me a hockey stick, says gifted Indian hockey player Rani Rampal

Rani Rampal waves after she was chosen the best young player of the Women World Cup 2010 in Rosario, Argentina

At the 2009 World Cup in Boston, India surprised Australia 3-2 in their tournament opener and at the 2013 edition, the Blueskirts are meeting the Jillaroos again in their lung-opener. “We can derive inspiration from that match against Australia. My current team-mate Poonam Rani scored the first goal while Asem Manorami Devi scored a final minute goal to help us glean full points,” the Indian Railways employee recounts.

How difficult was it seeing the senior women’s team performing so abysmally in Rotterdam? “It’s was disappointing to see our girls lose by big margins. But then, we had a young team, lacking in experience. The team missed drag-flicker Jaspreet Kaur who underwent a knee operation, even Joydeep Kaur was missed – who could not attend the first camp because her mother was not keeping well,” she quips.

Rani, who slammed seven goals in the 2012 Hockey World League Round 2 event in New Delhi, endured tough times during her initials days in picking up the tricks of the trade.

“My family had to toil to make ends meet – my father worked as a cartpuller, even today we don’t want him to work as it is not required but he insists it’s something he likes, my brothers do small-time works,” she reminisces how the odds were stacked against her.

But there is one man whom Rani owes everything for whatever she has achieved in hockey. It’s Baldev Singh, who has trained stars like Surinder Kaur and Mamta Kharab – he has been coaching the girls from Shahbad Markanda, touted as the nursery of women hockey in the country, for the last 23 years.

“I whole-heartedly convey my gratitude coach Baldev Singh Sir – I owe everything to him.– he gave me hockey stick, dress and kit as my family could not afford it – he want someone like me from a low-income background to make a name in the sport. I trained under him at the Shahbad Hockey Academy,” he lavished praise on her guru.

She revealed one incident which pointed to the strict disciplinarian Baldev Singh was. “Sir was very strict. One day in 2002, I was supposed to attend practice at 5.00 am but I arrived at 5.05 am. He told me to pay fine of Rs 100 for coming late as a way of telling me to be a disciplined player. Of course, he never took the money as she knew well that I could not afford it.”

Rani, whose role model is Surinder Kaur, is happy to be in the Indian hockey’s scheme of things, but wants more jobs for women hockey players. “You guys should write about it. Only Railways is giving jobs to women hockey players, which does not augur well for the future of the sport. OMCs, banks or government agencies must come forward to offer jobs for women hockey players, “ she signed off.