Vandana Katariya

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vandana Katariya

• Vandana Katariya is an Indian field hockey player.

• She grew up in a middle-class family in Roshnabad, Haridwar.

• Katariya was good at sports since childhood and always wanted to make a career in it.

• While she was a kid, Vandana used to practise hockey moves using tree branches far away from her home in order to hide it from her elders who disapproved her of playing hockey.

• Her father, who was once a wrestler, always motivated Vandana to pursue the game (hockey).

• Vandana began her junior international hockey career in 2006 and she played her first international match for team India at senior level in 2010.

• Vandana was a part of the Indian women’s hockey team at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany. She was India’s top scorer in the championship (scored 5 goals in 4 games) and team India won a bronze medal.

  

• In 2014, while she was playing against Canada during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Katariya won her 100th cap.

• In round 2 of the 2015 FIH Hockey World League, Vandana scored 11 goals and became the top scorer of the tournament. She also helped her team win the tournament.

  

• In 2016, Vandana became the skipper of the Indian women’s hockey team for the Test Series against Australia and led the Indian women’s hockey team in Melbourne.

  

• In 2016, Vandana qualified for the Rio Olympics and became a part of the Indian women’s hockey team.

• In 2018, she was made the player of the tournament at the Asian Champion Trophy (hockey) and India won a silver medal.

  

• In the same year, she qualified for the Hockey World Cup.

• In 2020, Vandana qualified for the Tokyo Olympics; becoming the first Indian woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey. The Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  

• Vandana’s father passed away just three months prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She couldn’t visit her home on her father’s demise as she was on the training period for the Tokyo Olympics.

• In her leisure time, she loves to spend time with her family.

• During an interview, while sharing the favourite moment from her hockey career, Vandana said,
  

  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.”

• In 2014, Katariya was conferred with Hockey India’s Player of the Year Award.

• During an interview, while praising Vandana, the Indian women’s hockey team’s stop-gap coach Roelant Oltmans said,
  

  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.”

• On 31 October 2023, Vandana achieved a milestone during the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. Her participation in the competition marked her 300th appearance in international matches for the Indian National Hockey Team, making her the first person to achieve this historic feat. ^[5]Hindustan Times