NEW DELHI: Describing the gold medal won by the Indian women’s hockey team at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester an inspiration for her, former captain Rani Rampal said on Thursday that the exclusion of the sport from the 2026 edition in Glasgow is a big setback for the country.
The Glasgow organisers on Tuesday left out hockey, shooting, cricket, badminton and wrestling from the roster of the scaled-down 2026 CWG, a move which will severely hurt India’s medal prospects at the quadrennial event.
“The exclusion of hockey from Commonwealth Games is a big setback. It’s very sad news. CWG has always been India’s favourite event,” Rani told PTI Bhasha.

Rani announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career during which she became an inspiration for beating abject poverty and conservative views at a small town in Haryana where her father worked as a cart-puller.
The-29-year-old will sign off as one of India’s most decorated hockey players after leading the women’s team to its best-ever finish at the Olympics — a fourth place at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“I was very inspired by the gold medal won in the Manchester Commonwealth Games. Even today, it could be a source of inspiration for many emerging players. We never thought that hockey would ever be excluded from it (CWG). This is bad news not just for hockey but also for all the other sports that have been excluded,” she said.
Rani requested Hockey India to oppose the decision.
“India’s performance in the Commonwealth Games is good. When I (can) get inspired by this, many players in the future will also be inspired to play after seeing India win medals.
“Hockey India and all the sports federations should oppose this exclusion. There is no fault of the players who were working hard for so many years,” she added.