Rupa Kumari Saini (born 2 September 1954) is an Indian

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player. She competed in the

women's tournament A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. She is a member of the Saini Sisters hockey family.''"At one time, the Saini sisters dominated women's hockey in India and this can be gauged from the fact that three of them— Rupa, Krishna and Prema- turned out for the country in a Test series against Japan in 1970"'
Olympians relive the peaks and the troughs, Ravi Dhaliwal, Sunday, 25 November 2001 , The Tribune

Early life and education

Saini was born in Patiala, Punjab. She earned a doctorate and worked at the Government College of Physical Education, Patiala. Later, she became the principal of the Government Mohindra college, Patiala and also served as the head of the department of Physical Education Department, Punjabi University.

Career

Saini captained the Indian hockey team for many years. She was part of the first Indian Olympic women's team in 1980 at Moscow along with her sisters. She is one of the four hockey sisters from Patiala.Avinash Singh, ''Fierce struggle ahead in Madrid'',

Sportsweek ''Sportsweek'' was a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live. The show aired on Sunday mornings and was presented by Garry Richardson, who is also a presenter on the ''Today'' show on BBC Radio 4. The show was produced by Richardson's ...

, 3 September 1978, pp 27-29 Her elder sister Prema also captained the Indian hockey team. The other sisters are Krishna and Swarna. She was the national selector for many years and the manager for the Indian team which won gold at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. She represented India in many tournaments including Asia Cup at Kyota in 1981 where India won the gold, USSR test series, World Cup in 1978, Begum Rasul Trophy in 1975 and FIH World Cup 1974 at France.

Awards

* Saini was conferred with the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1975.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saini, Rupa Kumari 1954 births Living people People from Faridkot, Punjab Field hockey players from Punjab, India Indian female field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for India Field hockey players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people)