Vandana Katariya or Vandana Kataria [1]Facebook- Vandana Katariya is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a forward player in the Indian women’s national hockey team. She came into the limelight after scoring five goals for team India at the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup; India won a bronze medal in the tournament.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Vandana Katariya was born on Wednesday, 15 April 1992 (age 29 years; as of 2021) in Roshnabad, Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh (now, Uttarakhand, India). Her zodiac sign is Aries. Vandana was inclined towards sports from a very young age. As a child, she often went away from her home (to hide it from her elders who did not approve her of playing hockey) and practised her moves with tree branches. Her father always supported her to play the game (hockey).
Physical Appearance
Height [2]Glasgow 2014: 5′ 2″
Weight [3]Glasgow 2014: 51 Kg
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
Vandana’s father, Nahar Singh, worked as a master technician in BHEL, Haridwar. He was once a wrestler. Her father died three months before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Vandana could not attend her father’s funeral as she was on her training period for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Not much is known about her mother. She has an elder brother, Chandrashekhar Kataria.
Caste
Vandana Katariya belongs to a Dalit family. [4]Hindustan Times
Career
Vandana made her junior international debut (team) in hockey in 2006 and her senior international debut (team) came in the year 2010. In 2013, she was a part of the Indian national team that won a bronze medal at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Katariya was India’s top scorer in the tournament; she scored 5 goals in 4 games. Vandana won her 100th cap during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, while she was playing against Canada.
During the 2015 FIH Hockey World League, Vandana scored 11 goals (top-scorer) in round-2; with team India winning the tournament. In 2016, Katariya was made the skipper of the Indian women’s hockey team for the Test Series against Australia. She led the Indian women’s hockey team in Melbourne. In 2016, she became a part of the Indian women’s hockey team for the Rio Olympics.
In 2018, the Indian women’s hockey team won a silver medal at the Asian Champion Trophy; Vandana was made the player of the tournament. In the same year, she was named in the 16-member squad for the World Cup.
In 2020, Vandana became the first Indian woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey after qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics were held in 2021 due to coronavirus outspread.
Controversy
In August 2021, two upper-caste men (Vijaypal and Sumit Chauhan) hurled abuses at Vandana’s family near Katariya’s house in Haridwar’s Roshnabad village after India lost to Argentina in the semifinals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They allegedly said that the Indian team lost because it had “too many Dalit players” while pointing out Vandana’s family members. The men even burst crackers near her home and danced in mock celebrations. Later, a case was registered against the two accused under relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code at a local police station on the complaint of Vandana’s brother. [5]Hindustan Times
Medals
- Bronze at Junior World Cup in Mönchengladbach in 2013 (Team)
- Bronze at Asian Games in Incheon in 2014 (Team)
- Gold at Asia Cup in Gifu in 2014 (Team)
- Silver at Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018 (Team)
Autograph
Favourities
- Food: Burger, Home-cooked food
- Dessert: Chocolate Ice-cream
- Hockey Player(s): Mohammed Shahid, Luciana Aymar
Facts/Trivia
- Vandana loves spending time with her family whenever she is free.
- In an interview when asked about her 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, Vandana received the Hockey India’s Player of the Year Award.
- While talking about Vandana during an interview, 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.”
- As of 2021, Vandana has played more than 200 international hockey matches for the senior Indian national team.
- Her current club (as of 2021) is Railways.
- Katariya has got a tattoo inked on the back of her right hand.
References
↑1 | Facebook- Vandana Katariya |
↑2, ↑3 | Glasgow 2014 |
↑4, ↑5 | Hindustan Times |