Tanya Dhar

 
Tanya Dhar
Hong Kong National Rugby Team(U19)
Geetanjali Dhar
People get startled when Tanya casually mentions that she plays rugby for Hong Kong. A soft spoken, but a no nonsense girl with steely determination started playing rugby when she was barely 5 years old.

It wasn’t rugby always though. She started with tennis and continued rigorous tennis lessons 3 times a week for about 4 years till she fell in love with rugby. Her father Manoj Dhar has always been there to support her choices. However once she chose rugby, then come rain or sun, he would take her for training. Now she is thankful that he did! Tanya was selected for the Hong Kong national team (Under 19’s) as soon as she turned 16 last year. She is among the youngest players to have made a mark in Hong Kong rugby.
QUESTIONS
ANSWER
Last educational institution attended Student at West Island School, Hong Kong
What hobbies and interests do you have outside of rugby? Outside of sports, I love baking. I occasionally play tennis for leisure with my Dad.
How, Where and Why did you start playing rugby? My Dad took me for non contact rugby for under 5 year olds. Our club then took some of us to play in Hong Kong Rugby 7's and I started getting hooked. Scoring the first try and seeing ourselves on the big screen in such a huge stadium was an incredible experience!
Who is your favorite player of all time and why? I have quite a few actually! Jonah Lomu, Izzy Folau, - pure legends of the game. It is pure magic to see them play the game and Lomu in particular, is why I fell in love with the game. However, I aspire to play like David Pocock, an incredibly fit player but also a role model off the field.
Best rugby moment/performance to date? The privilege of wearing Hong Kong colours for the first time. I was a part of the U 19 team that was selected to represent Hong Kong in a tour to Singapore.
Domestic Club HKU Sandy Bay
Playing position Hooker.
Most recent performance in a domestic tournament Representing my club in a 7's tournament.
Have you previously represented your country . I played for Hong Kong in February 2017 in Singapore.
Have you represented your country in any other sport before? Have played tennis at a high level but not internationally.
What is your ambition? Go to a university where I can pursue playing rugby. Eventually I want to give back to the game in some form. I have many options but I feel I'm too young to decide right now.  
   
What format of the game interests you most? 15 a side or 7 a side? I love the physicality and teamwork in 15's but 7's gives you the opportunity to be much more creative which I love. It would have to be 15's I enjoy more solely because of the teamwork, it's a lot more emotional when you win or lose.  
What are you aiming to achieve from Rugby? I hope to play internationally and continue to develop myself as a person as well as a player. I've learnt more about life playing this sport than I have doing anything else and it's made me appreciate every body type and everyone's strengths and weaknesses.