Dribbling Past Odds: Hockey star Vandana Katariya wins battles on and off the field

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New Delhi, Oct 31: Born to Dalit parents, Vandana Katariya had to endure snide remarks about her caste since childhood but even then it was hard to imagine that people would burst crackers in front of her home in Roshnabad area of Uttarakhand's Haridwar district after India lost Olympics semi-final to Argentina.

Vandana was still in Tokyo but a man called Vijay Pal and his friends were dancing in front of her house and hurling casteist abuses at her family members.

The man was arrested but she showed one and all, how difficult it is to rise through the ranks and wear national colours where deft stick work to outwit the opposition isn't the only criterion for success.

One also needs to learn to dribble past racism, casteism, poverty, and social taboos that never quite stop chasing the shadows. On Wednesday (October 25), Vandana did that imaginary spadework past all hindrances for the 300th time when she took the field against Japan in the women's Asian Champions Trophy.

Vandana always dreamt of becoming a hockey player since childhood. But she had to beat social stereotypes like her grandmother's wish to learn household chores and get settled.

Every rising star needs a hero and for Vandana, it was her father Nahar Singh Katariya - her pillar of strength. Nahar, who was a wrestler himself, fully backed her daughter and went against society and his family to help Vandana pursue her career in sports.

"My father used to run here and there to arrange money so that I could continue to play hockey. I don't have any idea where he got the money for my stay in the sports hostel. There were seeds of doubt at times whether I would ever be good enough to support my family but my father never stopped believing in me," Vandana had told PTI earlier.

Her father, her biggest support system passed away just before the Tokyo Olympics and at that time it was her teammates who came in her support. Vandana overcame the adversities and performed her national duty, helping India finish a historic fourth in Tokyo.

She scored four goals, including a hat-trick against South Africa during the group stage. But as she fought personal tragedy, those casteist slurs were bleeding her thousand cuts. She bled but never stopped from doing her duty for the flag.

In her initial days, Vandana did not even have the proper equipment to train. But life changed when she came under the wings of her first coach Pradeep Chinyoti, who spotted her at a school tournament.

Chinyoti soon asked her to shift her base to Meerut in 2004 and the hard work finally paid off when she was selected in the junior women's team two years later in 2006. She rose steadily and soon displayed her skills and helped India to clinch a bronze medal at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany, and also emerged as the country's top goal scorer with five strikes.

Vandana is a true blue striker. A package of speed, skills, and ability to break into the opposition's defence makes her different from others. Her gradual progression also saw her lead the Indian women's team in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy, where under her leadership the country won the title, defeating China 2-1 in the final. Vandana Katariya is one of the finest ever to have donned the India blues and her best is yet to come.