300th International Milestone for Indian ‘Evergreen’ Goalkeeper Savita Punia

Indian women’s hockey team ace goalkeeper Savita Punia scaled a personal ‘high’ during the 2024-25 Pro League match against the world number one and Olympic champions Netherlands at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. The ‘evergreen Indian shot-stopper’ became only the second Indian women player to make 300 international appearances. Vandana Katariya (319 caps) is the only other Indian in the 300-caps club.

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Hailing from the Jodhkan village of Sirsa district in Haryana, Savita, has had a highly successful playing career since making her senior international debut at the 2009 Spar Cup at the Queensmead Sports Complex in Durban – a four nation tourney that featured Argentina, Australia, and hosts South Africa. It was a tournament where Indian had finished winless, losing all their four matches.

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Savita honed her initial hockey lessons at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Hisar under coaches Sunder Singh Kharab and Azad Singh Malik. Interestingly, she is now employed with SAI. Crafting several success stories with the national team, she is famously remembered for playing her part in the Indian eves winning silver at the 2009 Asia Cup, winning silver at the 2013 Asia Cup, winning bronze at the 2014 Asian Games, winning gold at the 2017 Asia Cup as well as bagging a silver at the 2018 Asian Games.

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The Haryana girl made her Indian captaincy debut at the 2019 Malaysia tour after regular captain Rani Rampal pulled out of that trip owing to an injury. As captain, Savita has attained a fair degree of success, winning a bronze at the 2022 Asia Cup, a bronze at the 2022 Birmingham Commonw as well as a third-place finish at the 2021-22 FIH Pro League.

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Her goalkeeping prowess has earned global recognition – she was named FIH Goalkeeper of the Year thrice – Savita was was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2018.

Savita’s Milestone Journey

International Milestone	Opponent	Tournament	Venue
300 caps	Netherlands	2024-25 Pro League	Bhubaneshwar
250 caps	Australia	2023 Test Series (3rd Test)	Adelaide
200 caps	England	2019 Test Series (5th Test)	Marlow
150 caps	China	2017 Asia Cup	Kakamigahara
100 caps	Poland	2015 Hockey World League RD 2	New Delhi