Bengaluru, June 4 (TIWN) India women's hockey captain Rani on Wednesday stated that she feels extremely honoured for being nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

"I feel very honoured for being nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. I am overwhelmed that Hockey India has recommended my name for the top award and their continued support always encourages the team and I to do well," expressed Rani, who is also a recipient of the Padma Shri Award.

Hockey India has also recommended the names of Vandana Katariya, Monika and Harmanpreet Singh for the Arjuna Award.

Extending her congratulations to her compatriots Rani said, "It is fantastic that we have two players from the women's team being nominated for the Arjuna Award. I congratulate both Vandana and Monika, they are very deserving of this recognition. I also feel that two players being nominated goes to show that women's hockey is moving in the right direction and this will only motivate us to do better on the world stage."

Rani has led the Indian eves to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped in India's qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. The team also climbed to a career-best world ranking of nine.