Maartje Paumen has long been recognised as one of the world’s finest penalty corner flickers, but in 2011 she firmly established herself as both an exceptional midfielder and inspirational captain as the Netherlands re-claimed their place at the top of the FIH World Rankings. Paumen was the driving force behind Dutch triumphs in the EuroHockey Nations Championships (Mönchengladbach, GER) as well as the Rabo FIH Champions Trophy (Amstelveen, NED), where she produced a stunning hat-trick against world champions Argentina in the tournament final to help her team recover from 3-0 down before claiming victory in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. She finished as top scorer in both events and was named Player of the Tournament at the Champions Trophy.

Paumen took first place ahead of Argentina’s seven times winner Luciana Aymar, legendary Germany striker Natascha Keller, South Africa’s world record goal-scorer Pietie Coetzee and the outstanding Li Hongxia of China.

Paumen’s success in the FIH Player of the Year Award arrives just two days after she wrote herself into the history books in Rosario. On Tuesday 31^st January 2012, she became the highest goal-scorer in Champions Trophy history when she netted twice in the Netherlands’ 4-1 win over Japan. The double strike took her past the existing record of 22 goals set by Germany’s Nadine Ernsting-Krienke, a landmark which had stood for five years. At just 26 years of age, it is clear that Maartje Paumen is likely to continue improving this mark for many years to come.