Inside the historic win that put India’s women’s ice hockey team on the map

Diskit Chonzom Angmo is a woman on a mission. All of 27, the ice hockey player, part of the India women's national ice hockey team and also its spokesperson, chats with us from Chandigarh, a day before returning to her hometown of Leh, Ladakh. In the past week, social media has been dominated by smiling photographs of her team in their blue jersey and gear, emblazoned with the Indian tricolour. A uniform in which they brought home a history-making bronze medal at the 2025 IIHF Women's Asia Cup hosted in Al-Ain, UAE (May 31-June 6). Every win deserves attention and applause, but this one is special for the team that officially came into inception less than a decade ago, in 2016. 

“I have been inundated with messages since the win, from young boys and girls from all over India. They are congratulating us, and also asking: how do we join? And these aspirants are not only from high-altitude areas, but from states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Haryana,” says Angmo, who started out as a figure skater and belongs to the nomadic, culture-rich plateau region of Changthang in Ladakh. Her late father was a prominent part of the sport who pushed for its promotion and growth in the region, with Angmo at the forefront of women entering the game.

Even though she started playing with reluctance alongside her brother, a conversation with a woman ice hockey player during the Indo-Canadian Friendship Cup in Leh piqued her curiosity. Around 2009, women in Ladakh entered the local rink. Today, they are pushing for global recognition, and Angmo is not the only one steering it. The national team currently includes players from different creative and professional realms, including those part of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. 

Ice sports in India carries a niche identity, with limited exposure, training and financial assistance. Although the right kind of facilities and on-ground support is one aspect, another is climatic conditions. Ladakh is environmentally fragile, with harsh winters that have become unpredictable over the years due to climate change. However, the women of the Union Territory have pushed for women’s ice hockey to enter the mainstream. 

“It is very demanding: a contact sport that not only requires physical strength but mental resilience, too. It is also an art that the women of the team have now mastered, driven by passion and a fierce spirit,” adds Angmo, who has played along with women like Rinchen Dolma, now a young mother who returned to the rink within months of giving birth, current captain Tsewang Chuskit, and goalie Noor Jahan, who also runs Shesrig Ladakh, an art conservation studio in Leh. From Thangka paintings to two-way forwards who take the team to a win, these women juggle big victories and small defeats. 

While the medal has helped garner attention, it also spotlighted the missing links in terms of media coverage and the lack of skill-building and infrastructure for ice hockey players to progress and grow. Himadri Ice Rink in Dehradun, an Olympic-sized artificial ice rink which was recently reopened and was instrumental in helping the team train for IIHF has been a step in the right direction. Next up, an all-season rink and other training frames in Ladakh of a scale that can aid with international-level readiness is the most pertinent. Till then, it is the drive of the team and its newfound Insta-popularity that is keeping up the momentum.   

Lead image: Diskit Chonzom Angmo

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