Varun says hockey turned his life around for the better
INDIAN defender Varun Kumar was going through a tough time in his life before good fortune came by – thanks to hockey.
He is from Jalandhar, Punjab and his father was an auto-rickshaw driver, who also used to transport goods at the same time.
The income his dad receives was only enough to survive daily.
But despite the hardship, Varun had interest in playing hockey.
Varun used to save up little money that his father gave him to buy a hockey stick.
He used to play hockey with his friends Manpreet Singh, Talwinder Singh and Mandeep Singh at Mithapur in Punjab.
Varun was heartbroken a few times as he failed to find a place in the national junior team and had to wait for four years before getting the biggest break of his career in 2014.
His family fortune changed when Varun was included in the national junior team four years ago.
Varun not only featured in the 2016 Junior World Cup in Lucknow but also helped India to win the tournament.
The 23-year-old Varun, who plays for Mumbai-based team Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), said hockey changed his life and fortune of his family.
“I did the right thing by taking up hockey as it not only landed a job but also made my family proud,” said Varun, who is also a penalty corner specialist.
“I also helped my family financially and thanked my dad for giving me money to buy my first hockey stick more than a decade ago.
“It feels really nice to play hockey for India. We won the Junior World Cup in 2016 and now we hope to defy the odds and do the same in the World Cup,” said Varun.
India are having a great run in the World Cup with a resounding 5-0 win over South Africa and hard fought a 2-2 draw with Belgium.
India top the Group C standings with four points and they will wrap up the fixtures with Canada on Saturday.
Varun was named the man of the match against Belgium last Sunday for his superb form in defence.
Varun said they would go all out against Canada to secure a win and to qualify automatically for the quarter-finals.