It is a double delight for Indian women's hockey team defender Deep Grace Ekka as she completed her 100 International caps on her 22nd birthday at the country's final group stage match against Australia in the ongoing Four Nations Tournament.
The talented player from Odisha made her debut at the tournament in Argentina in 2011 and has been an integral part of the squad since.
Ekka, who hails from Sundargarh, was also one of the star performers at the FIH Junior World Cup in 2013, where the Indian eves won a bronze.
She was also part of the team that won the FIH World League Round 2 in New Delhi last year. Ekka was also part of the Silver medal winning team at the Asian Games in Incheon.
In her time in the senior squad, the team have also won the Silver at the Women's Asian Champions Trophy in 2013 and the Bronze at the Women's Hockey Asia Cup the same year.
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Ekka, was also member of the squad for the 17th Asian Games Incheon (Korea) 2014, where Indian eves beat Japan by 2-1 and won the bronze medal.
At the age of 13, Ekka was selected to join the residential Sundargarh Sports Hostel, run by the state government, one of the foremost hockey training centres in Odisha.
Congratulating Ekka for her achievement, Md. Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India said,"Deep Grace has been a part of our path breaking women team for a long while, and played an integral role in the qualification for the Olympics. It shows her immense talent and passion, that at such a young age she has already won a 100 caps. I wish her the best for all the future games and hope she continues to shine for the team.
