Nikki Pradhan is an Indian hockey player who plays in the defender position.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Nikki Pradhan was born on Wednesday, 8 December 1993, in the village of Hesel in the Murhu subdivision of the tribal heartland Khunti district in Jharkhand. Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius. Nikki completed her schooling at the St. Paul Middle School in Goelkera block of Pashchimi Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Weight (approx.): 50 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Body Measurements (approx.): 32-28-30
Nikki Pradhan
Family
Parents & Siblings
Nikki Pradhan’s father, Soma Pradhan, is a Bihar police constable, and Nikki’s mother, Jitan Devi, is a homemaker.
Nikki Pradhan’s father, Soma Pradhan, and her mother, Jitan Devi
Nikki has three sisters named Kanti Pradhan, Shashi Pradhan, and Sarina Pradhan. She also has a brother named Govind Pradhan. Shashi Pradhan is also a former hockey player who has been working as a ticket checker at Hatia railway station since 2009.
Nikki Pradhan (extreme left) with her siblings
Other Relatives
Indian former field hockey player Pushpa Pradhan is Nikki Pradhan’s cousin.
Husband
Nikki Pradhan is unmarried.
Career
Hockey Player
In 2011, Nikki Pradhan participated in the Jharkhand National Games which was also known as the 34th National Games of India. The tournament was held in Ranchi and Nikki’s performance in the tournament landed her in the national camp which took place in 2012. Nikki represented India for the first time in 2011 at the Under-17 Asia Cup which was held in Bangkok. In 2012, she was selected for the Indian hockey team for the Under-21 Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup which was held in Bangkok, Thailand. The Indian team won the silver medal in the tournament finals. In 2015, Nikki was selected for the national camp. In 2016, she made her international hockey debut on the South Africa Tour. Later, Nikki was selected as a member of the squad of the Indian Women’s Hockey team, which represented India in the Rio Olympics in Brazil in which the Indian team stood at the 6th position.
Nikki Pradhan (sitting at right corner) with the Indian women’s hockey squad at the Rio Olympics 2016
Nikki Pradhan was also part of the Indian squad for the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup which was held in Kakamigahara, Gifu, Japan. The Indian women’s team won the title after beating China in the final by a score of 4-1.
Nikki Pradhan (bottom row, third from left) with her teammates after winning the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup
She was also part of the Indian team that won a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang. Nikki also represented India in the 2018 Women’s Asian Champions Trophy which was held in Donghae, South Korea in which India won the silver medal in the finals.
Nikki Pradhan (bottom row, fourth from right) with the selected squad of the 2018 Women’s Asian Champions Trophy
Nikki was also part of the team’s victory in the FIH Women’s Series Finals Hiroshima 2019. In 2022, she represented India in the XXII Commonwealth Games which was held in Birmingham, England. The Indian team won the bronze medal in the tournament finals.
Nikki Pradhan posing with her bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022
In 2023, Nikki Pradhan was selected for the Indian hockey team squad for the 19th Asian Games which were held in Hangzhou, China. The Indian hockey team won the bronze medal in the championship by defeating Japan by the score of 2-1.
Nikki Pradhan after winning the bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games in 2023
Facts/Trivia
- Nikki Pradhan considers the former Indian hockey player and Olympian Sylvanus Dung Dung her biggest inspiration in Hockey.
- Nikki Pradhan’s cousin Pushpa Pradhan was invited to her school for a motivational session and Nikki was a student at that time. Pushpa made a speech where she shared her experience of travelling to New Jersey by flight.
- The speech Pushpa Pradhan gave at Nikki’s school about her flight experience was what fascinated Nikki more to join hockey professionally as she always wanted to travel in an aeroplane. She even asked her teacher
Is she telling the truth? Did she really ride an aeroplane and go to the US?”
- She was initially scared of playing hockey because of her lean figure, and she was scared he would break a bone while playing the sport; however, as she developed her confidence, she made a hockey stick of bamboo and started to play.
- In 2004, Nikki joined the Rajyastariya Balika Hockey Center in Bariatu where he started her professional hockey training.
- Dasrath Mahato was an assistant teacher at Pilaul Middle School who also gave Nikki her initial hockey training.
- Dasrath Mahato was the person who took responsibility for Nikki’s hockey career and told her parents
It’s my responsibility now to make her good’ and we couldn’t say no to a guru. He gave her shoes and sticks.”
- It was their family’s dream to go on a flight one day and Nikki made it happen as she took her siblings and extended family to Puri on a trip in 2023.
Nikki Pradhan’s Instagram post about taking her family on a flight for the first time
- Nikki had to face a lot of struggle during her initial training days as she belonged to a very backward community. She was quoted saying in an interview
We are five kids, the state of our livelihood at that time, we couldn’t afford (much). We used to play by making a stick out of broken pieces, bamboo sticks or any available material.”
- Nikki was the first woman hockey player from Jharkhand to represent India in the Olympics.
- In 2023, Nikki Pradhan completed her 150 international caps during the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24.
Categories: Sports
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
