Bhubaneswar: Ace hockey player Deep Grace Ekka, who announced her retirement from International Hockey on January 27, is all set to tie the nuptial knot with Indian Army personnel Anoop Lakra on February 6.
Ekka, a resident of Lulkidhi village in Sundargarh of Odisha, got engaged to Lakra, a native of Deogaon village of Subdega block in the same district, on January 26.
Ekka is now working in the East Coast Railway (ECoR) while Lakra is in Indian Army, sources said.
Lakra was an inmate of Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in Sundargarh. He had also represented Odisha in a few national-level hockey matches, sources said.
Ekka (30) had represented India women’s national field hockey team in at least 268 matches in between 2011 and 2023.
Ekka started playing state-level hockey matches at the age of 13. She played at the National Games at Ranchi in 2011 and got selected for the Junior Asia Cup team in the same year. Ekka was selected for the Arjun award in 2022.
