Hockey star Lilima Minz retires at 27
Hockey star Lilima Minz retires at 27
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Bhubaneswar: Lilima Minz, an Indian hockey midfielder and two-time Asian Games medallist, announced her retirement from the national squad on Thursday. She, on the other hand, intends to continue playing domestic hockey.
In 156 games for India, the 27-year-old scored 12 goals.
She made her international debut in 2011 at a four-nation tournament in Argentina, where she was born in Bihabandh-Tanatoli village in Odisha's Sundargarh district.
Since December 2012, the midfielder has been a regular member of the Indian women's team, and she was also a member of the side that won the women's hockey test series against Malaysia 6-0 in 2014. She competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and was a member of the bronze-medal winning squad at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.
Lilima was a member of the historic Indian team that competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics for the first time in 36 years.
In 2017, she was also a member of India's historic 9th Women's Asia Cup victory.
She also competed in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, where her team placed fourth, and was a member of the silver medal-winning squad in the 5th Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2018, as well as the FIH Women's World Cup 2018 quarter-finalist team.
The Indian midfielder was also a member of the silver-medal-winning Indian team in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
She also competed in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for the Indian team, which qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
In a statement, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam said, "Lilima has made a major contribution to Indian hockey over her remarkable career, and we cannot thank her enough for her efforts."
"She has been instrumental in the development of the Indian Women's Hockey Team in recent years." "Hockey India wishes her all the best in the next chapter of her life," he added.
