Varun Kumar (born 25 July 1995) is an Indian professional

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 ...

player who plays as a defender for

Punjab Warriors Jaypee Punjab Warriors (abbreviated as JPW) is a field hockey team based in Chandigarh, Punjab that plays in the Hockey India League. It is owned by Jaypee Group. Former Australian coach Barry Dancer serves as the head coach for the team while f ...

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, ...

and the Indian national team.

Career

Born in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Kumar belongs from Dalhousie, District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Kumar first started to play hockey when he was in school. 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. Injury soon after the tournament kept Kumar quiet for two years before he did very well in the 2014 Junior National Championships and was recalled into the junior national team. Kumar soon managed to sign with the

in the

. He was retained for the 2014 season. After the season, he was retained for a period of two years for the 2015 and 2016 seasons of the league.

International

Kumar has represented the India junior side. He emerged as the top-scorer for India during the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

before being selected into the side for the Junior World Cup side.

References

https://m.economictimes.com/news/india/himachal-pradesh-govt-announces-rs-1-crore-award-for-hockey-player-varun-kumar-after-olympics-bronze/articleshow/85103527.cms

External links

Varun Kumar
at

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Varun 1995 births Living people Field hockey players from Punjab, India Indian male field hockey players Male field hockey defenders Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Hockey India League players Olympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Recipients of the Arjuna Award