Varun Kumar (field hockey)

Varun Kumar
Kumar in August 2022
Personal information
Born (1995-07-25) 25 July 1995
Punjab, India
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Sport
SportField hockey
PositionDefender
Senior career
Years Team Caps Goals
– Hockey Punjab - -
2014–2017 Punjab Warriors - -
2017– BPCL - -
2024– Delhi SG Pipers - -
National team
Years Team Caps Goals
2014–2016 India U21 -
2017– India 142 (39)
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  India
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2020 TokyoTeam
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2022 HangzhouTeam
Bronze medal – third place2018 JakartaTeam
Asia Cup
Gold medal – first place2017 Dhaka
Champions Trophy
Silver medal – second place2018 Breda
Asian Champions Trophy
Gold medal – first place2018 Muscat
Gold medal – first place2023 Chennai
Bronze medal – third place2021 Dhaka
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2022 BirminghamTeam
World League
Bronze medal – third place2016–17 BhubaneswarTeam
Junior World Cup
Gold medal – first place2016 Lucknow
Junior Asia Cup
Gold medal – first place2015 Kuantan

Varun Kumar (born 25 July 1995) is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a defender for Punjab Warriors in the Hockey India League and the Indian national team. He was part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Career

Born in Punjab, Kumar belongs to Dalhousie, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh. Kumar first started to play hockey when he was in school.[2] He represented his home state of Punjab in the Junior National Championships in 2012 and did very well, earning a call-up to the junior national team.[2] Injury soon after the tournament kept Kumar quiet for two years before he played the 2014 Junior National Championships and was recalled into the junior national team.

Kumar soon managed to sign with the Punjab Warriors in the Hockey India League. He was retained for the 2014 season.[3] After the season, he was retained for a period of two years for the 2015 and 2016 seasons of the league.[4] Finally he won gold medal in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.[5]

International

Kumar has represented the India junior side. He emerged as the top-scorer for India during the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament in Spain before being selected into the side for the Junior World Cup side.[6]

Awards

Himachal Pradesh announced Rs.1 crore award for Kumar, for his Olympic bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Kumar Varun". www.worldcup2018.hockey. International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Santa Singh, Varun Kumar Plan to Spice Up Contests in World Cup". Bangalore Mirror. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Six Teams after Closed Bid for Hockey India League 2015". The Fans of Hockey. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Punjab warriors retain six players for next two seasons of HILs". Hindustan Times. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Asian Games Results". 2022 Asian Games, Hangzhou. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "'Versatile' team picked for Junior Hockey World Cup". Asian Age. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Himachal Pradesh govt announces Rs 1 crore award for hockey player Varun Kumar after Olympics bronze". The Economic Times. 6 August 2021. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
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