Former Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal didn’t discover a place in India’s 34-member core possible group for the Asian Games 2023 introduced by Hockey India on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Rani Rampal, who’s a veteran of 254 worldwide hockey matches, captained the Indian ladies’s staff to its best-ever fourth-place end on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Rani Rampal has scored 120 objectives for India since making her debut as a 14-year-old in 2009.

However, Rani Rampal was sidelined attributable to harm for essentially the most a part of 2022, lacking out on a spot within the Indian squad for the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands in addition to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

In Rani Rampal’s absence, veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia stepped up and guided the Indian ladies to a bronze medal on the Commonwealth Games 2022.

The Indian ahead made a comeback for India in January this yr throughout India’s tour of South Africa. Rani performed all 4 Test matches on return, scoring thrice, however has not performed for India since then. Savita Punia continued because the skipper regardless of Rani Rampal’s return to the squad.

Rani Rampal was lately named as coach of India’s under-17 staff by Hockey India. However, she knowledgeable the media that taking over the position didn’t imply she was retiring as a participant. 

“I am not retiring since I know I still have more to give to the sport as a player,” Rani Rampal mentioned. “I have this thing in me to not give up. If I had to, I would have given up after the Olympics. I accepted this (the coaching role) since it is a short-term programme.”

India’s 34-member core possible group for the Asian Games 2023 will participate within the nationwide camp from August 13 at SAI Centre in Bengaluru. 

“We have showcased in our latest competitions that we’re rising as a staff and are always studying,” the Indian ladies’s hockey staff chief coach Janneke Schopman mentioned.

“We will concentrate on making certain all of the gamers are comfy in taking part in the sort of hockey that we need to play. It is necessary that every one of us are on the identical web page earlier than the all-important competitors forward for us,” Schopman added.

The nationwide camp will conclude on September 18, 5 days earlier than the beginning of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China. 

The Indian ladies’s hockey staff will play its first match on the Asian Games towards Singapore on September 27.