Lausanne, Feb 11: India forward Lalremsiami has been named as the 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said on Tuesday (February 11). The 19-year-old attacker took the prize ahead of Argentina’s Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands, who finished second and third respectively, the FIH said in a statement. The player from Mizoram got 40 per cent of all the votes cast. She got 47.7 per cent of her votes from among national associations, while the media, fans/players contributed 28.4 per cent and 36.4 per cent respectively.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju took to his Twitter handle and lauded the Indian hockey players, including Lalremsiami, for their awards. Rijiju tweeted, “Let’s Celebrate Indian Hockey. The 2019 @FIH_Hockey Hockey Awards: 1. Manpreet Singh: Player of the Year! 2. Lalremsiami: Women’s Rising Star of the Year! 3. Vivek Prasad: Men’s Rising Star of the Year!” Lalremsiami first came into the wider hockey consciousness at the Hockey Women’s World Cup in 2018 when she was one of the stand-out players of the tournament. Since then she has been at the heart of the rise of the Indian women’s hockey team as it has cemented a spot in the world’s top 10 teams over the past two years.