Vandana Katariya (born 15 April 1992) 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. She plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the Indian national team. Vandana rose to prominence in 2013, being India's top goal-scorer in the

2013 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup The 2013 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup was the seventh edition of the Women's Hockey Junior World Cup, held from 27 July to 4 August 2013 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Defending champions the Netherlands won the tournament for a record third t ...

, where India won a bronze medal; she scored five goals in the tournament, the third by any player. Kataria has played for the senior national team in more than 200 international matches. She was a part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

and represented India at the

2016 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 de ...

. She has cited Argentine

Luciana Aymar Luciana Paula Aymar (; born 10 August 1977) is an Argentine retired field hockey player. She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Awards, FIH Player of the Year Award eight times, and she is considered as the best ...

as her favorite player. In March 2022, Kataria was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in recognition of her distinguished contribution in the field of sports.

Early life

Katariya was born on 15 April 1992, in Roshnabad - Haridwar,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

(now in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

). Her father Nahar Singh works as a master technician in

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It is based in New Delhi, India. Established in 1956, BHEL is India ...

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

. Hailing from Roshnabad in

Haridwar district Haridwar district () also spelled as ''Hardwar'' is a district in Garhwal which is a part of Uttarakhand, India. It is headquartered at Haridwar which is also its largest city. The district is ringed by the districts Dehradun in the north and ...

, Vandana is one of the most improved players upfront for India in the last couple of years. The youngster first made her junior international debut in 2006 before going on to make her senior international debut four years later. She is from Uttarakhand.

Career

Katariya was picked in the Indian junior team in 2006 and she made it to the senior national team in 2010. She was a part of the team that won bronze at the 2013 Junior World Cup in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She was India's top scorer in the tournament, having scored 5 goals in 4 games. In an interview she called the bronze medal her favorite moment, "It has to be when we won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Germany. My father was called by the media and he had tears in his eyes. So, making my father proud is the best moment of my hockey career." She won her 100th cap while playing against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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. "We clearly missed Vandana during the Hawke's Bay Cup. Her being back in the team strengthens our attack as she is good with speed and skill, to break the defence chain, which at times leaves the opponents on the back foot," said Kataria's 21-year-old teammate Poonam Rani. Katariya was honored with Hockey India's Player of the Year Award in 2014. At the

Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company) Round 2 is an American manufacturing company which produces scale models including die-cast, plastic, slot cars, and ot ...

of the 2014–15 FIH Hockey World League, she finished with 11 goals top-scorer, with India winning the tournament. "In my book, Vandana is one of the top forwards in world hockey. She is quick, can score goals, can defend and is improving all the time," Indian women's hockey team's stop-gap coach

Roelant Oltmans Roelant Wouter Oltmans (born May 25, 1954) is a Dutch field hockey coach who is the current head coach of Kampong first men's team. Earlier he coached the Larensche Mixed Hockey Club men's team. He coached the Netherlands men's, India men's, Pa ...

said after her performance in Round 2 League. In November 2016, Katariya was retained as the skipper of the Indian women's hockey team for the Test Series against Australia and led the team in Melbourne from 23 to 30 November. After qualifying for

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Katariya said: The Indian team won a silver at the Asian Champion Trophy, 2018, losing to Korea. Vandana Katariya won the player of the tournament award. Katariya played her 200th match in the third of the five-match series in India's tour of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in June 2018 ahead of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. She was named in the 16-member squad for the World Cup. In the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Vandana became first Indian woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey. Her family was subjected to casteist slurs after India lost to Argentina in the semifinals. Certain upper-caste men allegedly hurled abuses at Katariya's family saying that the team lost the Olympic semifinal as it had too many

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

players. On August 8, 2021, she was appointed the brand ambassador of the centre's ' Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Andolan'.

References

External links

Vandana Katariya
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:Katariya, Vandana 1992 births Living people Indian female field hockey players 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Asian Games medalists in field hockey Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Female field hockey forwards Field hockey players at the 2014 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games Field hockey players from Uttarakhand Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Olympic field hockey players for India Sportswomen from Uttarakhand 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 Recipients of the Arjuna Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games