Vandana Katariya becomes first Indian woman to score hat-trick at Olympics: Bio, life story, Instagram and other details

Hockey forward Vandana Katariya was the star of the show in India's narrow win over Ireland in their final Pool A match at Olympics 2021. India needed an outright win to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. In a closely fought contest, the Rani Rampal-led side edged their opponents out 4-3.

Vandana Katariya was impressive in the must-win game. She found herself in the right place at the right time on the field and netted three goals for her side. Vandana opened the scoring for India in the fourth minute of the game. In the 17th minute, she stuck her stick out and deflected the ball to convert a penalty corner.

Every time India scored, South Africa found a way to equalize. Neha Goyal scored India's third goal in the 32nd minute. South Africa equalized in the 39th minute.

However, with the support of Gurjit Kaur, a determined Vandana slotted her third and India's fourth goal of the match from a penalty corner in the 49th minute. It was enough to seal India's win. The winning goal also made Vandana the first Indian women's hockey player to register a hat-trick at the Olympics.

Here is everything you need to know about Vandana Katariya

Vandana Katariya's medal wins

Vandana Katariya first came to the limelight in 2013 when she was selected for the junior team. She helped India clinch bronze at the 2013 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup. Vandana was India's highest scorer in the tournament with five goals. A year later, she was in the senior team at the Asian Games. The team went on to win the bronze medal. Vandana was also part of the squad that clinched gold at the 2017 Asia Cup. In 2018, she helped the team to a silver at the Asian Games.

Tokyo 2021 is Vandana Katariya's second Olympic appearance, after Rio 2016.

Vandana Katariya's stats

According to the Hockey India website, Vandana Kataiya has 240 caps for India and has scored 64 goals.

Vandana Katariaya Bio

Date of Birth: 15th April 1992

Place of birth: Roshnabad, Uttar Pradesh

Height: 5ft 3in

Weight: 50kg

Instagram handle: vandana.hockey