Subhadra Pradhan (born 5 June 1986) 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 hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player.

Early life

Subhadra Pradhan was born on 5 June 1986 in Saunamara, a small town in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

to an

Adivasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

family. She did schooling in Birsa Munda school and pre-university education in Khalsa College,

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

. She tutored at the Panposh Hockey Hostel at

Rourkela Rourkela is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of state capital Bhubaneswar and is surro ...

during her initial days and started her career in hockey in 1997.

Career

Subhadra Pradhan was included in India's junior team in 2000 and she led the junior team to a third-place finish at the Junior Asia Cup in October/November 2004. She made her senior debut in 2003. She was a part of the senior team that won the gold medal in the 2004

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. ...

and the silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

. In 2007, Subhadra Pradhan along with Jasjeet Kaur became the first Indian women to play for a European club, when they played for the Dutch club

HC Den Bosch Hockeyclub 's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, is a Dutch field hockey club based in 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant. It was founded on 14 July 1937. The first teams (men and women) both compete on the highest level of the Dutch field hocke ...

in 2007. She was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament' in the 2009 Asia Cup that India finished second.

Personal life

Subhadra Pradhan married Pradeep Naik in April 2009. She is employed with the South Eastern Railway and is currently stationed in

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 ...

Awards and honours

In 2006, she was given the

Ekalavya Award The Ekalavya Award is given by the several state government including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana etc. The award is given to native players for outstanding performance in sports or even education by few states like Rajasthan Rajasthan ...

for her contribution to Indian hockey.

References

External links

Profile at ''Bharatiyahockey''
1986 births Living people Indian female field hockey players 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Field hockey players at the 2006 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2010 Asian Games Field hockey players from Odisha Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Recipients of the Ekalavya Award Sportswomen from Odisha Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games HC Den Bosch players {{India-fieldhockey-bio-stub