CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 31,2020 ( By YS.Rana): India women’s captain Rani has won The World
Games Athlete of the Year 2019 award. The prize, which is voted for by
the public, is given for outstanding performances, along with social
commitment and fair behaviour. here were initially 25 nominees, male
and female, which was reduced to 10 in the final round of public
voting. Among her rivals to the title were karate star Stanislav
Haruna of Ukraine, the Canadian powerlifting champion Rhaea Stinn and
Janja Garnbret, a sport climbing star from Slovenia.Rani, who has been
a member of the national team since she was a mere 15-year-old and
currently has more than 240 caps for her country, stated: “It is my
privilege and honour to win this award. The award goes to my team and
my country. It is always nice when your country recognises your
effort. It is even better when the international sports community
recognises it. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me. 2019
was a great year for our team because we qualified for the 2020 Tokyo
Olympic Games. As a team,we want to make 2020 a great year!”FIH CEO
Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH and the global hockey community,
I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Rani for having
been voted The World Games Athlete of the Year 2019. This is an
acknowledgement of her outstanding performances – together with her
teammates -, of her dedication to hockey and of her leadership. This
prestigious award is also great recognition for hockey globally.”
And he added: “We are working hard for and look forward to having
Hockey 5s as a demonstration sport at The World Games 2021.”Looking
back in 2019, the highlight for Rani and her teammates was the FIH
Women’s Series Finals in Hiroshima, where Rani herself was Player of
the Tournament and her team sealed their qualification for the
Olympics Games Tokyo 2020. Prior to that competition, Rani had also
led her team to victory in the Ready Steady Tokyo 2020 hockey test
the t in August.
Hockey India congratulates Rani- Hockey India on
Thursday congratulated the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, Captain Rani, for
being the first Indian athlete to win the prestigious World Games
Athlete of the Year 2019 Award.
Congratulating Rani, Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad,
President, Hockey India said, “I congratulate Rani for winning the
prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year 2019 Award. This is a very
proud moment for all of us. She is the first Indian athlete to win
this award and through her achievements Rani has been able to draw a
lot of attention towards women’s hockey. Many people are aware of the
team’s recent accomplishments and I am confident this team is capable
of winning larger goals and I wish Rani and the team best of luck this
Olympic Year.”