Adrian Albert D'souza (born 24 March 1984 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

) is an Indian

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

goalkeeper, who made his international debut for the men's national team in January 2004 during the

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Adrian has more than 100 International Caps for his country in all competitions. He has played in all major field hockey tournaments, including the 2006 Hockey World Cup,

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, 2007 Asia Cup and 2 Champions Trophies. Regarded as one of the most innovative and daring goal-keepers of recent times, Adrian brought the rushing technique to the hockey field. Adrian has competed in 3/4 major international hockey events (tournaments played once in four years): the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, and

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

with a total of 165 caps for his country.

Early life and education

Adrian attended the St. Anne's School in Mumbai till grade 10. After completing grade 12 from Khalsa Junior College, Mumbai, he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in sociology from Rizvi College, Mumbai. While active in sports, he was also a good football player. At 17 Adrian got selected for the prestigious

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

Hockey Academy in New Delhi.

Career

Adrian's introduction to hockey happened by coincidence at the age of 9. The regular goal-keeper of his school team did not report for a game and Adrian agreed to play as a replacement. He had a broken tooth by the end of the match and promised never to play keeper again. But his coach was impressed and Adrian has never looked back since. Adrian has played 165 international matches for his country. Adrian was one of the youngest hockey players to play at the Olympics at the age of 20.

Domestic clubs

His first domestic hockey club was Mumbai Customs in 2001. In 2002 he got selected to play for

which got him the best goalkeeper award in The Bombay Gold Cup and was called for his first Senior Hockey National Camp. Adrian Joined B.P.C.L in 2003 and

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after mer ...

in 2005 which is now Air India (present) .

International

Total Caps - 165 Adrian was awarded the best goal-keeper award while being a part of the Junior India team that participated in the 6th Nation Junior Champions Challenge at

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

, Poland in 2003. He made his international debut as a senior in the

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

in Kuala Lumpur in January 2004. His performance in the Junior Asia Cup in April, that India won, earned him the best goalkeeper award. This was followed by four-nation tournaments in Japan, The Netherlands and Germany. He represented India at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, which saw India end in the 7th position. In the 8 match test series between India and Pakistan played in October 2004, he was awarded the best goalkeeper for the Pakistan leg (4 matches), while also being adjourned the best player of the series. D'Souza was captain of the Indian team in the 2005

Junior Hockey World Cup The Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, formerly known as the Hockey Junior World Cup, is an international field hockey competition organized by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1979. Since 1985 it has been ...

. The same year he was part of the junior team in the 6 nation invitational tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2006 was a busy year for the Indian team with major tournaments lined up and the selectors expected Adrian to play a pivotal role in the team. The year saw him represent the team in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament (Malaysia) in June, the Champions Trophy (Spain) in July, the

(Germany) in September, and ending with the

(Qatar) in December, while missing the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in Australia due to an injury. In 2007, he was part of the bronze-winning team in the Champions Challenge in Belgium and the gold winning team at the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

. Due to a hamstring injury, Adrian had to pull out from the 2008 Olympic Qualifier camp. India could not beat Great Britain in the final and missed the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. Adrian, along with his parents, watched the game in Mumbai. He was back after a break of 2 months and was selected for the 2 legged 4 Nation tournament in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and Darwin. The tournament also included hosts Australia, China and South Korea. Adrian performed relatively well in the

2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 17th edition of field hockey tournament the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Participating nations Seven countries participated in the tournament: * * * * * * * Results ''All times are Malaysia Standard Time Malay ...

, having played a great game against Malaysia in the semi-finals. India scored from a penalty corner and Malaysia could not prevent India from making it to the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah after 13 long years. Facing a tightly contested match against Argentina in the finals, India lost in the extra time. Adrian played his last international tournament, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2012.

Franchise leagues

Adrian D'Souza plays in the

Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...

for the

Maratha Warriors The Maratha Warriors were a field hockey team from Maharashtra, India that competed in the now defunct Premier Hockey League. Team Lineup Players Squad Note: The list of players was obtained from the PHL website. The list may change in th ...

. He participated in the inaugural

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

organized by the

Pakistan Hockey Federation The Pakistan Hockey Federation ( ur, ) is the governing body for the sport of field hockey in Pakistan. It is affiliated with the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Management positions The current Patron-in-Chief is Prime Minister Mian M ...

. representing the Baloch Lions and was awarded the 2nd Best goal-keeper award. Adrian then took part in his first stint for an international club. Adrian played for Koln Club () in Germany. Adrian went on the play

World Series Hockey World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchise ...

for

Mumbai Marines Mumbai Marines (MM), initially known as ''Mumbai Warriors'', is a hockey team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that plays in the World Series Hockey and led by Indian hockey team goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza. The team is owned by Ashish Bharatram (SRF ...

. In the

Hockey India League Hockey India League (HIL), known as the Coal India Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. The league is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. HIL, along with the Indian Premier League, ...

Adrian played for his hometown city club

Dabang Mumbai Dabang Mumbai (abbreviated as DBM) is a field hockey team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, that plays in the Coal India Hockey India League (HIL). The aim is to build a team for the eight-time Olympic Champions, India be able to compete a ...

Awards and nominations

*Was nominated for the prize of the World's Most Promising Young player Award for the year 2004 by the FIH. *Was awarded India's "Player of the Year" for the year 2004 by the ''Indian Hockey Year Book''. *Was awarded the HISA (Hero Indian Sports Academy) award for best Indian Hockey player of the year for 2004. * Was awarded the prestigious Chattrapati Shivaji State Award in 2006.

Personal life

Adrian's jersey number is 12, which he considers lucky. He gets his helmets custom made by OBO while designing the graphics himself. Adrian has the Olympic rings tattooed on his torso.

References

External links

*
Bharatiya Hockey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Souza, Adrian 1984 births Living people Field hockey players from Mumbai Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Indian Roman Catholics Olympic field hockey players of India World Series Hockey players Field hockey players at the 2006 Asian Games Indian male field hockey players Asian Games competitors for India 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup players 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup players