Kishan Bahadur Pathak (born 24 April 1997) is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a goalkeeper for the Indian national team.
Early life
Pathak was born on 24 April 1997 in Kapurthala, Punjab. He is of Nepalese descent; his parents migrated from Lugdi village in Nepal to Punjab in 1990. His ancestral village is about six hours away from the capital Kathmandu.[2] Despite not being interested in the sport, Pathak had joined the Surjit Hockey Academy in Jalandhar when he was 12 at the insistence of his father.[3] Pathak’s mother died when he was 12, while his father Tek Bahadur Pathak, a crane operator, died of a heart attack in 2016.[3][4][5]
Career
Pathak was part of the Indian junior team that won the 2016 Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup in Lucknow. He was then selected in the India A team for the 2017 Men’s Australian Hockey League. He made his India senior team debut in January 2018 when the team participated in a four-team invitational tournament in New Zealand.[6] Pathak found a place in the squad for 2018 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup as India’s first-choice goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh was rested. He then played as a reserve goalkeeper in the 2018 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy where India won the silver medal and the 2018 Asian Games where India won bronze.[citation needed]
Pathak was the reserve goalkeeper at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo where India won the bronze medal.[7] Finally he won gold medal in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.[8]
Award
Kishan Pathak(son of santosh kumar pathak, mother of vibha devi) received the Arjuna Award from the President of India on 9 January 2024.[9]
References
- ^ “PATHAK Krishan”. www.worldcup2018.hockey. International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ “Friends in deed aid Krishan in tragedy”. The New Indian Express. 26 November 2016.
- ^ a b Raj, Pratyush (12 August 2018). “Sreejesh’s understudy, Krishan worked at construction sites”. The Times of India. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ Iyer, Ravi (26 November 2016). “Friends in deed aid Krishan in tragedy”. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ Junior Hockey World Cup: Despite setbacks, goalkeeper Krishan Pathak keeps faith
- ^ “Fit-again PR Sreejesh named in India squad for New Zealand tour”. India Today. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ Jal, Pratyush Raj (5 August 2021). “Tokyo Olympics: 9 players from India’s bronze-medal winning hockey team from Jalandhar’s Surjit Academy”. India Today. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ “Asian Games Results”. 2022 Asian Games, Hangzhou. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ “Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports”. pib.gov.in. Retrieved 9 January 2024.