Pritam Siwach recommended for Dronacharya award

The present senior national core group includes four of Pritam Rani Siwach's students, while two are part of the junior side.

Pritam Siwach has been running the Sonepat Hockey Academy since 2004. [File photo]

Former India captain and one of the country's finest hockey forwards, Pritam Rani Siwach has been recommended for the Dronacharya award this year.

Nominated by Indian Railways, Pritam has been part of the Indian women's team coaching set-up in the past (2010-12), was coach of the junior women's team that won silver at the 2012 Jr Asia Cup and has been running the Sonepat Hockey Academy since 2004.

The present senior national core group includes four of her students, including prolific midfielder Neha Goyal, and two in the junior side. At the Junior Women's Nationals last year, the second-placed Haryana side had seven players from her academy.

As a player, Pritam was part of the Indian team that won the historic Commonwealth Games gold in 2002 and the Asian Games silver (1998) in a 17-year long career that included a comeback in 2008 after a five-year gap.