Women's Day 2025 Special: Haryana’s Hockey Olympian Neha Goyal Bats For Gender Equality

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Haryana's Olympian and star midfielder, Neha Goyal, was candid in saying there should be gender equality and women's hockey players should get equal opportunities as the male hockey players during the next edition of the Hockey India League.

"Giving equal opportunities to female hockey players will encourage more young girls to take up hockey in the country," Neha added. "We hope that during the second edition of the women's HIL the base prize of the top women hockey players will be equally impressive. The first edition of women's HIL was a good opportunity for female hockey players. The second edition should be better."

For a record the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave equal opportunity to female athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games held between July 26 to August 11. The IOC distributed equal quota (50:50) places to female and male athletes.

At the first edition of the women's HIL held between January 12 to 26 in Odisha, the 28 years old Haryana's international guided Odisha Warriors to victory.

Neha has been a mainstay of the senior national women's team since 2016 and plans to work hard to further cement her place in the upcoming major competitions, including Asian Cup, a qualifying event for the 2026 World Cup. The 2026 calendar will also feature Asian Games.

Haryana's international will skip the ongoing senior national women's hockey championships in Panchkula, Haryana, due to hectic schedule. "The national team has been playing competitive hockey for the last three months. Hence the core group of female hockey players in the camp were given a short break," she said. "It's time to recover and spend some time with family."

Neha who tied a knot with Sunil Kumar, a national hockey player, in November 2024, said her in-laws were supportive which gives her more strength to work hard.

She was a member of the national silver medal winning team at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. She represented India at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in China. The Indian women's hockey team won bronze in China.

Neha continued to work hard and was a member of the national women's hockey team that finished fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021 in Japan. She was also a member of the Indian team that won gold at the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy held in Rajgir, Bihar.

According to Neha, staying mentally and physically healthy is her main goal in the coming months. "Good fitness is important to cement a place in the national team," she explained. "I've learnt the art of balancing hard work and recovery, which enables me to stay strong on and off the field."