Ritu Rani announces retirement from international hockey
Former Indian women's hockey captain Ritu Rani announced her retirement from international hockey. Ritu, hurt after being dropped from the Rio Olympic squad, decided to bring her career to an end, at the young age of 24. Hockey-India President Narinder Batra said that it was Ritu's personal decision and "Hockey India would like to thank her for her service to the game and nation."
Ritu Rani: Player profile
Ritu Rani is an Indian hockey team player who played as a forward. She hails from the small town of Shahbad in Haryana where she trained at the famous Shahbad Hockey Academy. Ritu made her hockey debut into the senior league at the age of 14, during the Doha Asian Games. She represented India more than 200 times and netted goals on 16 occasions.
Youngest player on the squad
Ritu Rani was part of the Indian team that competed in the 2006 Madrid World Cup. She was the youngest player to have ever competed in the Indian squad.
Playing for India
India was the winner of the inaugural tournament of the Hockey Champion Challenge in 2009, where Rani was the top goal scorer. She became the captain of the Indian side in 2011. As the skipper, she led the Indian women's team to two bronze medal victories - in the 2013 Asia Cup, Kaula Lumpur and the 2014 Asian Games, Incheon.
Hockey team's Olympic qualification
Under Ritu Rani's captaincy, the Indian women's hockey team qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, after a long gap of 36 years.
Axe from Rio Squad
Ritu Rani was controversially dropped from the Indian side for the Rio Olympics on the grounds of attitude and performance. Ever since her engagement to Punjabi singer Harsh Sharma, questions were raised about her focus on the game. India's chief coach Neil Hawgood reportedly was unhappy with the fact that Ritu left national camp to attend her engagement and found this 'unprofessional'.
