Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup: All you need to know about the Indian team

The Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup, which got postponed to 2022 due to the threat of Covid-19, began on Friday, April 1, in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Grouped in Pool D, India will begin their campaign on April 2 when they take on Wales. Their second match will be against Germany on April 3, followed by their last pool stage game against Malaysia on April 5.

Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup: Olympic success gives India’s next gen belief of making a mark

This will be the junior team’s first international outing since the Chile tour in 2021, where they remained unbeaten.

Here’s a quick look at the squad:

Bichu Devi Kharibam
Age: 21
Position: Goalkeeper
Goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam’s career has been on a steep ascent since she made her breakthrough with eye-catching displays in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina, a tournament where India clinched an historic Silver medal. In the following year, she was named ‘Goalkeeper of the Tournament’ in the 4 Nations Junior Women Invitational in Dublin and was fast-tracked to the senior set-up. The 20-year-old from Manipur seeks inspiration from her Senior Team training partner Savita, whose guidance has helped Bichu Devi elevate her game to the next level. Bichu Devi is amongst the more experienced members of the squad and will be a leading figure in the team’s dressing room. She recently made her debut for the Senior Women’s National team in the FIH Pro League held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha 2021/22.

Khushboo
Age: 19
Position: Goalkeeper
Khushboo hails from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The young goalkeeper is one of the rare players in the junior setup who has never formally been part of a hockey academy while growing up. Instead, Khushboo played the game at a local level and used competitive matches at the grassroots level as her training routine. Khushboo, who enjoyed playing cricket and badminton as a child, had a fortunate encounter with hockey when a summer camp was conducted in her locality. The initially hesitant player soon found her calling in hockey and made a rapid rise to be selected in her state team within two months of playing the sport for the first time. Khushboo’s father works as an auto-rickshaw driver and her mother is a housewife. Khushboo counts her mother as her strongest pillar of support who has helped her get this far in hockey.

Marina Lalramnghaki
Age: 20
Position: Defender

Marina hails from the town of Kolasib in Mizoram, and is a crucial member of the defensive setup of the team. She began playing hockey at the age of 9, as the sport was popular among her tribe in Kolasib. As her interest grew further in hockey, Marina got enrolled in the SAI hostel in Mizoram; a facility where she continues to train and reside. Marina had to deal with challenges early on in her life as her financial struggles became an obstacle in her dream of playing hockey. She thanks her friends for their support in various forms, as they would often help her out with borrowed playing equipment so she could continue training. Marina looks up to Senior Team player Sushila Chanu as she admires her attitude and the way she carries herself. Marina made her breakthrough in the National Camp after she was adjudged the Best Player in the 2019 Junior National Championships in Kollam.

Preeti
Age: 19
Position: Defender

Preeti hails from the town of Sonepat in Haryana. She began training in Pritam Siwach’s hockey academy in Sonepat in her early years, before graduating to the National Hockey Academy in Delhi. Preeti dealt with an ankle operation at the age of 17 which sidelined her from action for over a year. This was a difficult period for her but still Preeti dreams of playing in the Olympic Games for the Senior Indian Women’s team one day.

Priyanka
Age: 21
Position: Defender
Priyanka hails from the northern state of Haryana. The gritty defender was 11 years old when she began playing hockey. Soon after, Priyanka enrolled in the famed Shahabad Hockey Academy under the tutelage of Dronacharya Awardee Coach Baldev Singh. Priyanka earned her first selection in the National Camp after her impressive performance in the 2017 Junior National Championship in Bhopal. Priyanka lists her transition from the domestic to national circuit and initial experience in the National Camp as one of her most challenging experiences in hockey as she required time to get used to the high level and disciplined regime in the national setup.

Ishika Chaudhary (Vice Captain)
Age: 21
Position: Defender
Named as the Vice Captain and second-in-command of the team, Ishika Chaudhary hails from Madhya Pradesh, where she developed her skills at the MP Women’s Hockey Academy, Gwalior. Having to leave home to join the academy and live in a hostel initially came as a challenge for Ishika, who frequently got homesick in the beginning. However, she eventually overcame this challenge and credits her seniors and peers at the academy for preparing her to be confident and developing the mentality and personality to pursue hockey professionally. Ishika earned her first selection into the National Camp after performing well in back-to-back Junior Nationals in Bhopal in 2016 and 2017. Ishika recently got an opportunity to represent the Senior Women’s National team in the FIH Pro League 2021/22.

Akshata Abaso Dhekale
Age: 20
Position: Defender
Akshata plies her trade as a defender and hails from the western state of Maharashtra. She started playing hockey at the age of 11 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Academy. Akshata’s earliest inspiration in hockey came when she witnessed the Indian Senior Men’s Hockey Team in training camp in Pune before the 2012 London Olympics. Akshata comes from a humble background as both her parents work as farmers. She faced obstacles initially when she started playing hockey as it was difficult to get hockey sticks, but her development was brought on track by her academy, who offered her support to continue playing. Akshata’s most impressive performance came in the 2019 Junior National Championships in Kollam when she led the Maharashtra team as Captain to their first ever appearance in the Quarter Final on the national stage. Being selected for the National Camp for the first time is one of her fondest memories in hockey. Akshata seeks inspiration from Manpreet Singh and Reena Khokhar. She recently made her debut for the Senior Women’s National team on her home ground during the FIH Pro League 2021/22.

Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke
Age: 18
Position: Midfielder
Born in Pune, Maharashtra, Vaishnavi, started playing hockey at the age of 10 in her city’s renowned Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. She earned her Junior Camp call-up basis her performance at 9th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2019. The 17-year-old has represented her home state team Maharashtra in almost all the major domestic tournaments, including the Khelo India Events in 2019 and 2020, Senior National Championship in 2020 and 5-a side Senior National Championship as well. For the Junior national team, Vaishnavi featured for the first time on the Chile tour earlier in 2021, where the team remained unbeaten.

Salima Tete (Captain)
Age: 20
Position: Midfielder
The 19-year-old Salima hails from Jharkhand. Known for her tenacious defending on the field, she has a very calm personality off the turf. She Captained the Indian junior team that clinched the Silver medal at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in 2018. Salima was part of India’s fine victory against USA in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers and over the past two years, she has cemented her place in the team with significant performances including the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. Salima is also only the second player from Jharkhand after Nikki Pradhan to play at the Olympic Games.

Reet
Age: 20
Position: Midfielder
Reet hails from Shahabad in Haryana – the city famed for being a nursery of young hockey talent in the country. Reet trained initially at the Shahabad Academy, but eventually moved to Fatehgarh in Punjab after her renowned Coach Baldev Singh got transferred there. Reet lists the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina as her favorite memory as it was her first tournament with India; where the team finished 2nd in the competition.

Sharmila Devi
Age: 20
Position: Midfielder
Sharmila Devi was part of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team’s historic fourth place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and bagged the FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year Award 2020-2021. The 20-year-old forward, who made her debut at the Ready Steady Tokyo Hockey 2020 Olympics Test Event in 2019, also scored a goal in India’s first match against USA at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019. The Hisar-born player, having honed her skills under previous Indian Women’s Hockey Team Captain and Dronacharya Awardee Pritam Siwach, is now geared up for the Junior World Cup glory.

Ajmina Kujur
Age: 20
Position: Midfielder
Ajmina hails from the state of Odisha and functions as an all-round midfielder who likes to defend and attack with the same kind of energy level. Ajmina got selected and developed her craft at the State Sports Hostel in Panposh, Rourkela. Ajmina’s father passed away in October 2021; which has proved to be the hardest challenge in the young player’s life. The Odisha-based player looks up to Senior team players Deep Grace and Namita Toppo and aims to follow their footsteps as she dreams of representing the Indian Women’s Hockey Team in the Olympics someday.

Lalremsiami
Age: 22
Position: Midfielder
Fondly known as ‘Siami’, has been a regular feature in the Senior National Team since her Senior Team in debut 2017 in a test series against Belarus, she made rapid strides in the U-21 India team which earned her an early berth in the Senior side. Before breaking into the Senior Team, Lalremsiami represented the India U-18 side at the Asian Youth Olympic Games Qualifier held in Bangkok, where she scored as many as seven goals to help the team secure the Silver Medal. She was also part of the team that won the Silver Medal at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympics.
Siami has gone on to feature in major events such as the 2018 Asian Games, the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is the first female hockey player from Mizoram to play at the Olympics.

Baljeet Kaur
Age: 21
Position: Midfielder
The Punjab-based midfielder began playing hockey at the age of 11 after she followed in the footsteps of her elder cousin who also used to play the sport. Baljeet recounts the support of the Deputy Superintendent of Police in her locality who helped her source her first hockey stick when she was growing up and did not have the means to purchase her own playing equipment. Baljeet lives in a joint family at home and is the daughter of a mechanic and a housewife. Baljeet recalls the moment she was selected for the National Camp as one of her proudest moments, but also an incident that made her nervous as she was scared of sitting in a flight at the time.

Lalridinki
Age: 22
Position: Forward
Lalrindinki grew up in Hnahthial district of Mizoram. She started her training from Sports Authority of India (SAI) Hockey Centre, Thenzawl. Lalrindinki is an integral part of the junior team since the past four years and now has her eyes on breaking into the senior team and making her debut at the Paris Olympics. Football legend Cristiano Ronaldo is her role model. Lalrindinki looks up to Lalremsiami in the senior team. While Lalremsiami was creating history in the senior team in Tokyo Olympics, Lalrindinki was quietly making her presence felt in the national setup. She was a part of Junior India Women’s tour of Chile 2021 where she scored 2 goals and India were unbeaten throughout the tour. She has played in several international tournaments such as the 6 Nation International Tournament (Under 23) in 2018, Belgium, 4 Nation International Tournament (Jr Women) in 2019 at Dublin, Test Match Series 2019 in Belarus, 3 Nation International Tournament 2019 in Australia and the Test Series 2021 in Chile.

Jiwan Kishori Toppo
Age: 21
Position: Forward
Jiwan hails from the town of Rajgangpur, an industrial town located in the Sundargarh district of Odisha. She was encouraged to take up hockey at a young age by her parents as hockey was a popular sport in her village. Later, Jiwan made her way to the State Sports Hostel in Rourkela. Jiwan earned her first call up to the National Camp after her performance in the 2017 Junior National Championships in Bhopal, where her team made the Semi Final stage. Jiwan lost her father in 2020, which has been the cause of numerous difficulties in her life and pursuit of hockey. She even considered giving up hockey at one point and living with her family at home, but she was persuaded not to do so by her mother who insisted that she must not give up. Jiwan was a part of the Indian Women’s Junior Team that toured Chile in 2021. Jiwan seeks inspiration from Senior Team players Vandana and Rani.

Mumtaz Khan
Age: 19
Position: Forward
Mumtaz is a fierce forward who hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. She developed her craft by playing as a youngster at the KD Singh Babu Stadium, before spending one year at the Girls Sports Hostel in 2015. After that period, Mumtaz got selected by the National Hockey Academy where she developed her skills even further, before finally being inducted into the National Camp. Although Mumtaz was keen on playing hockey at a young age after seeing her friends play the sport, she could not do so as she belonged to an orthodox family which did not allow her to take up the sport freely. After finally securing permission from her parents, Mumtaz never looked back again. Mumtaz made her first impression on the national stage in the 2014 Junior Nationals in Chhattisgarh, but she could not lock her place down just yet as she was considered too young by the selectors at the time. However, it was just a matter of time for the prolific goal scorer, who finally cemented her spot in the national setup in 2017. Mumtaz faced an injury setback after she dealt with a ligament injury in a competitive match in Ireland in 2019. This has been a learning experience for her as she discovered her own will power as she fought to make a comeback from her first long term injury in hockey.

Beauty Dungdung
Age: 18
Position: Forward

Beauty hails from Simdega, Jharkhand and plays as a forward. She began playing hockey at the age of five as she went to a school which encouraged students to play hockey as a part of the school curriculum. Beauty’s parents backed her decision to play hockey as well. Beauty has faced numerous obstacles revolving around financial struggles in her journey as her family would often struggle to afford the domestic travel required for Beauty to play outstation tournaments. Beauty is determined that hockey will help her overcome this situation after she makes it as a senior professional. Beauty earned her first selection in the National Camp after the 2019 Junior National Championships where Jharkhand emerged as Champions, with Beauty scoring freely in the competition.

Deepika
Age: 18
Position: Forward
Deepika belongs to the district of Hisar in Haryana. Although Deepika has never formally trained in a hockey academy, she developed her skills as she represented and trained with Hockey Haryana in competitive tournaments. Deepika began and continued playing hockey initially because she loved playing the sport. It was only in 2016 that she learnt that she can even aim to play hockey professionally and represent her country in the process. Deepika earned her first selection in the National Camp after she was adjudged the Best Player of the 2018 Sub-Junior National Championships in her hometown Hisar, where Hockey Haryana finished as Champions with Deepika registering 16 goals in the competition. Deepika was a part of the Indian Junior Women’s team which played in the Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers in 2018, as well as the team’s tours of Australia and Chile. She was handed her senior team debut by Chief Coach Janneke Schopman in the FIH Pro League 2021/22 held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Sangita Kumari
Age: 20
Position: Forward
Sangita Kumari belongs to Simdega, Jharkhand, and started playing hockey at the age of 7. After she began playing in school, Sangita was selected to play further in the Sports Training Centre in Simdega. Sangita has been a mainstay in the Junior National Camp since 2016, having played in multiple international tours for the Indian Women’s Junior Hockey team, including tours of Spain, Belgium, Australia, Chile, as well as the Youth Olympic Qualifiers in Bangkok in 2018. Sangita’s parents come from an agricultural background and could not always sustain her requirements in terms of hockey kit and equipment. She also remembers an instance when her father once gave her a makeshift hockey stick which he made himself out of a bamboo stick. She got her first opportunity with the senior team against Spain in the FIH Pro League 2021/22.