✦ Celebrity stories, facts and career updates. Explore F4U now →

Home › Biography › Vandana Katariya

Vandana Katariya biographyFeatured Biography

Image source: StarsUnfolded

Celebrities

Vandana Katariya Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 14, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth15 April 1992

Age29 Years (as of 2021)

BirthplaceRoshnabad, Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand), India

ProfessionField Hockey Player

NationalityIndian

Marital statusUnmarried

FamilyFather - Nahar Singh; Brother - Chandrashekhar Kataria

Vandana Katariya Biography

Vandana Katariya is an Indian field hockey forward from Roshnabad, Haridwar. A prolific scorer for India across junior and senior levels, she has earned a长

Early life and background

Vandana Katariya was born on 15 April 1992 in Roshnabad, Haridwar, which at the time was part of Uttar Pradesh and is now in Uttarakhand, India. She grew up in a middle-class family and showed an early interest in sport. Her father, Nahar Singh, who once worked as a master technician at BHEL, Haridwar and had a background in wrestling, encouraged her athletic pursuits.

Katariya developed her hockey skills from a young age and began representing India at junior international level in 2006. She moved through the age-group ranks and made her senior international debut in 2010, launching a career that would see her become one of India’s leading forwards.

Career

Playing as a forward, Katariya came to wider attention at the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup in Mönchengladbach, where she finished as India’s top scorer with five goals and helped the team secure a bronze medal. That performance was an early sign of her goal-scoring instincts on the international stage.

By 2014 she had reached 100 senior caps during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The same year proved successful for India and for Katariya personally: she was part of the squads that won bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon and gold at the Asia Cup in Gifu, and she received Hockey India’s Player of the Year Award.

Katariya continued to be a consistent presence for India through major tournaments. In the 2015 FIH Hockey World League Round 2 she finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 11 goals and helped India to tournament victory. She captained the national side for the Test Series against Australia in 2016 and was a member of the squad that qualified for the Rio Olympics that year.

Her performances earned further recognition in 2018 when she was named player of the tournament at the Asian Champions Trophy as India finished with silver, and she went on to be part of the team that qualified for the Hockey World Cup the same year.

At the Tokyo Olympics (the tournament originally scheduled for 2020 and played in 2021), Katariya became the first Indian woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey. She has remained a mainstay of the team and is affiliated with the Railways club in domestic competition.

In October 2023 she reached a notable personal milestone: her appearance at the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Ranchi was her 300th international match for India, making her the first Indian player to reach 300 caps.

Public profile

Katariya has been publicly identified with the Dalit community. She is unmarried and maintains close ties with her family; her brother Chandrashekhar Kataria has been involved in filing a complaint related to an incident that drew media attention in 2021. Her father’s death occurred about three months before the Tokyo Olympics; she was in training at the time and could not return home.

On the field she is known for pace and an eye for goal. Coaches and teammates have praised her work rate, ability to score, and defensive contribution from the forward line. She lists Mohammed Shahid and Luciana Aymar among players she admires. Away from hockey she enjoys simple pleasures such as home-cooked food and chocolate ice cream, and she has a tattoo on her right hand.

Latest updates

As of 31 October 2023, Vandana Katariya completed 300 international appearances for the Indian women’s hockey team, a first in the country’s history for any player. Her career includes multiple multi-sport event medals with India, individual tournament honours, and long-term service to the national side.
◈

Recent Work

Women’s Asian Champions Trophy — Ranchi

Marked her 300th international appearance for India at the competition

2023
✦

Career Highlights

  1. Top scorer for India at the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup (5 goals)
  2. Reached 100 caps during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
  3. Top scorer (11 goals) in Round 2 of the 2015 FIH Hockey World League
  4. Named Hockey India’s Player of the Year in 2014
  5. First Indian woman to score an Olympic hat-trick (Tokyo Olympics)
  6. First Indian player to reach 300 international caps (2023)
?

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Vandana Katariya born?

15 April 1992

What is Vandana Katariya known for?

Field Hockey Player

What is Vandana Katariya’s marital status?

Unmarried