Nagoya: It was a historic occasion for the Indian women’s hockey team at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday. The girls in orange overcame a gritty Chinese side 1-0 in an engrossing final to end a 44-year gold-medal drought.
Among the bunch of proud girls on the victory podium, as the National anthem was played and the Tricolour went up, was Sunelita Toppo.
At 19, she was the youngest member of the team, who made Odisha and India proud.
While Sunelita will bring home a precious Asian Games gold medal, ace Odisha athlete Animesh Kujur returned to Bhubaneswar on Friday with a bronze that he secured in the 4x100m Mixed Relay event.
Kujur missed out on a medal in the Men’s 200m, finishing fifth, but helped the relay team bag bronze with blistering runs in the third leg.
Sundargarh girl Sunelita scored five goals in India’s stupendous campaign in Japan, having netted one in the FIH Women’s World Cup two months ago in Belgium and The Netherlands.
She made her presence felt whenever she was on the pitch, with former India captain and TV commentator Viren Rasquinha describing her as “one of the best talents who will serve India long.”
A KISS product, Sunelita was congratulated by Achyuta Samanta, the founder of KIIT and KISS.
“A proud day for India with six gold medals at the Asian Games 2026! Heartfelt congratulations to our women’s hockey team on defeating China 1–0 to win gold after 44 years and qualify for Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Special love and blessings to my lovable KISSian Sunelita Toppo, who scored twice each against Indonesia and Singapore. You have made our KIIT & KISS family proud. My appreciation to Odisha for its continued support for hockey and to Shri Dilip Tirkey for inspiring young players. My good wishes to the entire team for the Olympics,” Samanta posted
A proud day for India with six gold medals at the Asian Games 2026! Heartfelt congratulations to our women’s hockey team on defeating China 1–0 to win gold after 44 years and qualify for Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Special love and blessings to my lovable KISSian Sunelita Toppo,… pic.twitter.com/erY4JFqPQD
— Achyuta Samanta (@achyuta_samanta) October 2, 2026
Sunelita, who started as a midfielder, also plays in the forwardline if needed. She made her junior India debut even before she was 16, winning the Junior World Cup in Japan. By the time she was 17, Sunelita was part of the senior national team.
Now that she has an Asian Games gold medal, she will look to fulfil her dream of winning the Olympic gold. The Indian having qualified for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics by virtue of emerging Asian champions, Sunelita can start focusing on honing her skills further keeping in mind the bigger goal.
