Sunelita Toppo (born 11 April 2007)[1] is an Indian women's field hockey player from Odisha.[2] She plays as a forward. She made her senior India debut at the FIH pro-league against China in Bhubaneswar on 3 February 2024. She is retained in the Senior team announced on 2 May 2024, for the Belgium and England leg of the FIH pro-hockey league.[3]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
11 April 2007 Kukuda, Sundergarh, Odisha, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current club | Hockey Association of Odisha | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hockey Association of Odisha | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Caps | Goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
| India U21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | India | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
editSunelita hails from Kukuda village[4] in Sundergarh district in Odisha.[5] Her father Suresh Toppo is a farmer and her mother, Nelisunita Toppo,[6] is a housewife.[7] She says, she is inspired by her aunt Anupa Barla, who also played Junior World Cup for India.[8] She is a product of the Sports Authority of India Training Centre, Sundergarh, which is considered as a cradle of budding hockey stars in India.[4] Initially, she started to play hockey at the age of 8, with bamboo sticks.[9]
Career
editSunelita represented Odisha in the National Games at Gujarat in 2022 and caught the eye of the selectors after an impressive performance. She made her junior India debut in February 2023 during the four-match South Africa tour[10] and within a year she got the senior cap. She started as a mid-fielder but soon switched to forward line.[11] Later in June 2023, she was part of the Indian junior team that won the Junior Asia Cup in Japan.[10][12][13] She was also part of the junior India team that played the 4-nation invitational tournament in Düsseldorf, Germany in August 2023 and the Women's hockey Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile in December 2023.[10][14]
References
edit- ^ "Sunelita Toppo Profile". Hockey India. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Sunelita Toppo". www.orisports.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ PTI (2024-05-02). "Change of guard in women's hockey team: Salima replaces Savita as skipper". ThePrint. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ a b "Sunelita Toppo: Another addition to Sudargarh's rich hockey tradition". Khel Now. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Sunelita a bright spot as India take on formidable Aussies". The Times of India. 2024-02-07. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Welcome :: Student Academic Management System (SAMS)". samsodisha.gov.in. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ ""I want to play in the Olympics and win Gold medal for my country," says 16-year-old Sunelita Toppo after getting picked for Hockey India Senior Women National Coaching Camp". Hockey India. 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Following her aunt's footsteps, Sunelita Toppo hopes to make it big in Indian hockey". Stick2Hockey. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "Sunelita Toppo : వెదురు కర్రలతో హాకీ ఆడా". EENADU (in Telugu). Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ a b c "Orisports.com". www.orisports.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ Desk, The Bridge (2023-11-27). "'Great opportunity to represent India on the big stage,' says India women's junior forward Sunelita Toppo". thebridge.in. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ PTI (2023-06-10). "Junior India Women Hockey's Talented Forward Sunelita Toppo Named In Asian Games Core Group". www.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ Scroll Staff (2023-06-08). "Hockey, Women's Junior Asia Cup: India finish group stage unbeaten to qualify for semis". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ Scroll Staff (2023-12-10). "FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup: India finish ninth after penalty shoot-out win over USA". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2024-02-07.