The first Womens hockey team from India to win a Bronze medal in the Junior Womens World Cup history in Monchengladbach, Germany on Sunday – August 04th, 2013.
It was a thrilling match where the score remained tied 1-1 at full time after 70 minutes of play, leading to a penalty shootout. In a battle of nerves the Indian girls held their own, to beat a fancied England 3-2 in a shoot-out-victory on penalties to claim the bronze medal in the ‘Junior Womens’ World Cup’. The winning goal was scored by 17 year-old Navneet Kaur. 18-year old Rani was later named as ‘Player of the Tournament’.
This was the best finish by the Indian eves team in the event, having finished outside the top-eight in their earlier 3 attempts.
At the World level, across all age groups this was the maiden succes for the Indian Women’s Hockey team . The Indian eves best before was a 4th place finish at the 1974 World Cup and the 1980 Olympics.
Hockey India (HI) Secretary General Narinder Batra announced a cash reward of Rupees one lakh for each player of the team and Rupees fifty thousand for the support staff. The Chief Coach Neil Hawgood will also receive a cash reward of Rupees one lakh.