Anjali Mulari
New Zealand ice hockey captain and record-breaking forward.
Anjali Dayalji Mulari (born Anjali Dayalji Thakker on 20 August 1993) is a New Zealand forward in both ice hockey and inline hockey. She serves as captain for the New Zealand women’s national ice hockey team, the Auckland Steel ice hockey team, and the Hamilton Devils inline hockey team. She has also played for CHL Aranda de Duero in Spain’s top women’s league, Ris-Orangis in France, and Köping in Sweden.
Mulari grew up in Hamilton, the daughter of a Kiwi mother and an Indian father. She started playing inline hockey at age 11 while attending Fairfield Intermediate School. After graduating from Hillcrest High School at 17, she studied at the University of Waikato as a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry in 2014. Her older brother, Sanjay Thakker, has also represented New Zealand in inline hockey and studied at the same university.
Her inline career began with the Hamilton Devils in 2005 in the U12 program. She became team captain in 2006 and led the squad to a national gold medal. At 18, she was named alternate captain of the senior Devils, guiding them to national titles in 2011, 2012, and 2013, then a silver medal in 2014 as captain. She captained the team to another national championship in 2016. After a short stint in England, she played two games for Ris-Orangis in the French Elite league, recording 12 points. In December 2015, she joined CHL Aranda de Duero, the bottom club in Spain’s Elite league, for an undisclosed fee. Over four games, she scored 10 goals, becoming the league’s second-highest scorer and lifting the team out of the relegation zone. In 2016, she joined Sweden’s Köping Inline for the SM-veckan finals. She scored all three goals in a 3–1 win in her first game, then netted the fastest hat trick in Swedish history—three goals in 2 minutes and 9 seconds—in an 8–4 championship victory over Wermland, scoring seven of Köping’s eight goals.
In ice hockey, Mulari joined the Auckland Steel women’s representative team in 2010 after only a few months of playing the sport. The team won four national titles from 2010 to 2013, and she served as alternate captain in 2013. As captain for the 2016–17 season, she led Auckland to an undefeated season, breaking all team records with 70 points in 12 games.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Forward
- Shoots
- Right
- Height Ft
- 5
- Height In
- 2
- Weight Lb
- 132
- Team
- Hamilton Devils
- Former Teams
- Aranda de Duero (Liga Élite)
- Sex
- f
- Ntl Team
- NZL
- Birth Date
- 20 August 1993
- Career Start
- 2005
- Medaltemplates
- Women's inline hockey · FIRS Women's Inline Hockey World Championship / 2013 United States · Team
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Mulari began playing inline hockey at age 11 while attending Fairfield Intermediate School in Hamilton. She joined the Hamilton Devils in 2005 in the U12 programme and was named captain in 2006, leading the team to multiple New Zealand national championships. She graduated from Hillcrest High School at 17 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Waikato as a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar. Her older brother Sanjay Thakker also represented New Zealand in inline hockey.
In ice hockey, Mulari joined the Auckland Steel women's representative team in 2010 after only a few months of playing ice hockey. She served as alternate captain in 2013 and later as captain for the 2016–17 season, leading the team to an undefeated season and breaking all player records with 70 points over 12 games. She also played for Melbourne Ice in the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League in 2014–15, helping the team win the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy.
Internationally, Mulari has represented New Zealand in inline hockey since age 17 and in ice hockey every year since 2011. At the 2016 IIHF Women's World Championship, she scored 7 of New Zealand's 13 goals and was named Best Player for Team New Zealand. In 2017, she was alternate captain and won the Most Valuable Forward trophy after leading the tournament in goals (7), assists (8), points (15), and plus-minus (+9). After a break to start a family, she returned for the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she broke the New Zealand national team record for most points in a game (8) and led the tournament in assists.
Reader's Guide
Anjali Mulari's significance lies in her dual-sport excellence and leadership across inline and ice hockey. She is the captain of the New Zealand women's national ice hockey team and has been one of the most capped female ice hockey players in New Zealand, representing the Ice Fernz every year since 2011. Her international breakthrough came at the 2016 IIHF World Championship, where she scored more than half of New Zealand's goals and earned the IIHF Tissot watch as Best Player. The following year, she dominated the 2017 tournament, being responsible for 75% of New Zealand's offensive output and winning the Most Valuable Forward award. In 2023, she set a national team record for most points in a game and led the tournament in assists. Her inline hockey career includes a Swedish Championship victory with Köping, where she scored the fastest hat trick in Swedish history (2 minutes 9 seconds), and multiple national titles with the Hamilton Devils. She has also played professionally in France and Spain. Her leadership roles span club and national teams, and she has received numerous awards including the Sir Peter Blake Trust Dream Team Leader designation and multiple University Blues Awards.
Did You Know?
- Mulari scored the fastest hat trick in Swedish inline hockey history, netting three goals in 2 minutes 9 seconds.
- At the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship, she was responsible for 75% of New Zealand's offensive output (15 of 20 goals).
- She broke the New Zealand national team record for most points in a game at the 2023 IIHF World Championship with 1 goal and 7 assists.
- Mulari was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar at the University of Waikato and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry.
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