A day to cherish for Lalremsiami

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She scored India’s fifth goal in the 6-1 thrashing of South Africa here at the Wagener Stadion at the hockey World Cup. With the goal, she now has the unique distinction of being the first Indian woman to score in three successive World Cups.

But that wasn’t the only achievement of note from her on the day. Earlier, she became the first athlete from Mizoram to be nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award. The diminutive attacker didn’t let much of a smile on the field for her historic goal, but was beaming with pride upon being bestowed with the National sports honour.

“I am deeply honoured. It is motivating for me to keep working hard,” the 26-year-old said on the sidelines.

Introduced in the senior side at the age of 17, Lalremsiami has been an integral part of India’s double Asian Games podium finishes and Commonwealth Games bronze medal to go with her 65 goals in 208 appearances.

Hailing from Kolasib, a northern district in Mizoram, Lalremsiami paid tribute to the people, who played a part in her journey. “Everyone who supported me in my journey is very happy. Where I come from, hockey is not that big. Many people did not believe the award news,” she said.

Ranked ninth in the World, India is an outside bet for the World Cup. But after an uncertain start to the year, Lalremsiami, who is now a senior in this team, believes the transitional side is on the right track.

“After the Olympics, many senior players left the team. So it took time for the team to rebuild. We are slowly building the team. Now Sjoerd [Marijne] is back and he has a lot of faith in the team. He has instilled positive qualities in the team,” she added.

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