Nikki Pradhan (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian professional

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player and is a member of the Indian national team. Pradhan was the first female Hockey player from

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

who represented

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Pradhan was included in a 16-member squad for

Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

, which also marked the return of Indian women's hockey to the Olympics after 36 years after a stellar show at the

Hockey World League The Men's FIH Hockey World League was an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation. The league also served as a qualifier for the 2014 and 2018 Men's Hockey World Cups and the 2016 Olympic Games. Th ...

Semifinals in 2015. Pradhan was the midfielder of the Indian Women's Hockey team. Her selection to the team made her the sixth hockey player from Jharkhand to play in Olympics, bracketing her with Jaipal Singh Munda (1928), Michael Kido (1972), Sylvanus Dungdung (1980), Ajeet Lakra (1992) and

Manohar Topno Manohar Topno (born 25 June 1958) is an Indian field hockey player. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where the Indian team placed fifth. References External links

* Munda people 1958 births Living people Fiel ...

(1984).

Early life

Pradhan was born in Hesel village in tribal heartland

Khunti Khunti is the headquarter of Khunti district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is in South Chotanagpur division and one of the 24 districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The district of Khunti was carved out of Ranchi district on 12 Sept ...

, roughly 60 kilometres from

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

, Jharkhand, on 8 December 1993, to Soma Pradhan, a Bihar police constable, and his wife, Jitan Devi, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. Pradhan is the third daughter of Soma Pradhan and Jitan Devi. She belongs to

Kharwar Kharwar is a community found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal. Etymology The ''Khar'' grass is totem of the Kharwar. They don't cut or injure it while growing. Kharwar tribe of pres ...

Bhogta The Bhogta (also known as Ganjhu, Pradhan) is an agricultural community, primarily inhabiting in the state of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. They speak Sadri language as mother tongue except Bhogta of West Bengal, who are adopted Bengali as ...

community. Pradhan studied at Pilaul Middle School and started playing the game at a young age under the guidance of her childhood coach Dasrath Mahto. She was inspired by

Pushpa Pradhan Pushpa Pradhan (born 25 November 1981) is an Indian former field hockey player, who represented the India women's national field hockey team. She played with the team when it won the Gold at 2004 Women's Hockey Asia Cup. Early life Pradhan ...

, who visited school in 1999 and tell her journey to national hockey team. Then she made hockey stick of bamboo and started to play. Later she enrolled in the Bariatu Girls' Hockey Center in Ranchi in 2005, which has produced former Indian captain Asunta Lakra. She leave sport hostel in 2009. After passing 12th class in 2010, she had to leave hostel but she was allowed to stay in hostel and play in campus due to request. After playing Jharkhand National Games in 2011, she got selected for national camp in 2012.

Career

Pradhan played the first time for India in U-17 Asia Cup in Bangkok in 2011. However, Pradhan wasn't able to get selected for the India's Junior National Hockey Camp in 2011–2012. Pradhan was also a part of the U-21 Women's Hockey Team which won the silver medal in the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

, however, had to stay out of action due to an injury until the beginning of 2015. Pradhan made her debut for the Senior Indian Team and was called into the senior camp in August 2015. Pradhan was later selected as a member of the squad of Indian Women's Hockey team, which represented India in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 2016. Her selection to the Indian Women's Hockey team that represented India in Olympics scripted history as she was the first woman Hockey player from Jharkhand to ever play in Olympics. The 16-member team was led by defender

Sushila Chanu Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (born 25 February 1992) is an Indian field hockey player. A former captain of Indian national team, she has a total of 150 international caps to her credit. Born in Imphal, Manipur, Chanu began playing hockey at the a ...

. Pradhan played at the position of a midfielder, alongside Renuka Yadav, Llima Minz, Monika and Navjot Kaur. The other team members were

Deep Grace Ekka Deep Grace Ekka (born 3 June 1994) is an Indian female field hockey player. She plays for the Indian Women's Hockey Team. She has been selected for Arjun award in 2022. Early life Deep Grace Ekka was born on 3 June 1994 in a small village calle ...

, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Savita,

Poonam Rani Poonam Rani (born 8 February 1993) is an Indian field hockey player from Hisar, Haryana who was selected to represent India at the 2016 Olympics. She is said to have been inspired to play hockey after watching the India win the gold medal at t ...

, Vandana Katariya, Deepika, Namita Toppo,

Sunita Lakra Sunita Lakra (born 11 June 1991) is an Indian field hockey player. Lakra has represented her country by being capped in the India women's national field hockey team. Lakra announced her retirement from hockey through Hockey India on 2 January 2 ...

and

Preeti Dubey Preeti Dubey is an Indian field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hock ...

. The team, however, got eliminated in the group stage where they were placed 6th. In

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, Indian women hockey team won bronze medal. The team won a medal in common wealth games after 16 years.

References

External links

*
Nikki Pradhan
at

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradhan, Nikki Indian female field hockey players Living people 1993 births Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics People from Khunti district Sportswomen from Jharkhand Field hockey players from Jharkhand 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Female field hockey midfielders Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Nagpuria people