Somwarpet Vittalacharya Sunil (born 6 May 1989) 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 for the Indian national team. He represented India during the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and won silver with them at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. He received the

Arjun Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in 2017.

Early life

Sunil was born on 6 May 1989 to Vittalacharya and Shanta in the

Kodagu district Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, is a Vishwakarma

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

and is an ethnic

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. At the age of four, he lost his mother. His father worked as a carpenter and his brother, a goldsmith. Born into a poor family, Sunil used bamboo for a hockey stick during his younger days.

Career

Sunil took up hockey when he was 14 and trained at the Boys' Sports Company in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. In 2005, he was drafted into the

Indian Army Service Corps The Indian Army Service Corps (IASC) is a corps and an arm of the Indian Army which handles its logistic support function. It is the oldest and the largest administrative service in the Indian Army. While the history of supply and transport serv ...

as a havildar, where he shone as a player in the inter-services league. In 2007, he was signed by

Chennai Veerans The Chennai Veerans was a Tier-1 level field hockey team Premier Hockey League in India. In the inaugural cup in 2005, the ''Chennai Veerans'' led by Ignace Tirkey finished at the bottom of the group with two wins and six losses. After finishing ...

to play in the inaugural edition of 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 ...

. The following season, he played for Bangalore Hi-Fliers. Sunil made his senior international debut in 2007 during 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. ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, a tournament that India went on to win. His first scoring game was against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in which he scored a hat-trick. India defeated

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in the final of the tournament by a 7–2 margin, with Sunil scoring the second goal for his team. In the 2008 edition of 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 ...

, Sunil scored his only goal against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. India went to on to lose to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the final. Sunil traveled with the team for the tournament's next edition to Malaysia. However, news of his father's death reached him a few hours before India's opening match against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Sunil went on to play the match, despite being asked by coach Harendra Singh to return home. He later remarked later that he was inspired by cricketer

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

who played under similar circumstances. Having played through a right knee injury meant Sunil had to pull out of three major events of 2010: the World Cup, Commonwealth Games and the

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 ...

. He returned to the squad after a surgery, and trained to ensure that he was "faster than ever before". He was a member of the squad that won gold at the inaugural edition of the Asian Champions Trophy in 2011. He scored four goals in the Champions Challenge I later that year and was the most by an India forward. He had a successful outing in the qualifying round for the

but a poor finals with his team finishing last. He won bronze with India in the

a few prior scoring two goals in the tournament. His first goal, the winner, came against Pakistan in the 69th minute in a 2–1 victory. He was included in Azlan Shah XI, the team of the tournament.

Hockey India League

In the auction of the Hockey India League in 2013, Sunil was bought by the Punjab franchise for USD42,000 with his base price being US$13,900. The Punjab team was named

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 ...

. The team won in the 2016 season defeating

Kalinga Lancers Kalinga Lancers (abbreviated as KAL) is a field hockey team based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha that plays in the Hockey India League. It is jointly owned by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Mahanadi Coalfield Limit ...

6–1 in the final.

2014–present

Sunil represented India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where India won the silver medal. He was a regular member of the India squad until he was first dropped for his team's Argentina leg of the 2020–21 season of Pro League. He was again left out of the squad named for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. He subsequently announced retirement from the national team in October 2021. However, he came back from retirement a few months later and was included in India 'A' core probables, picked up to train a developmental group for the senior national team. He was named in the squad for the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

and was appointed vice-captain; India fielded its 'A' team for the competition.

References

External links

*
S. V. Sunil
at Hockey India * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunil, S. V. 1989 births Living people Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey players of India People from Kodagu district Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 2014 Asian Games Field hockey players from Karnataka Indian male field hockey players Asian Games gold medalists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Male field hockey defenders Hockey India League players Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2016 Recipients of the Arjuna Award 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup players