Sai lucknow

Raj Kumar Pal: Raj Kumar Pal, men’s hockey team midfielder is all set to represent India in the 2024 Paris Olympics. A vital cog in the Indian team, Raj Kumar first came in the spotlight when he was selected for a five-nation U-23 tournament in Belgium in 2018.

The youngest of three brothers who took to hockey, Raj Kumar’s journey from the streets of Karampur is a tale in itself. His elder brothers, Jokhan and Raju, are former hockey players too, and he proudly says that there was no other sport to turn to but hockey.

Raj Kumar joined the Meghbaran stadium at age 10, where coach Tej Bahadur Singh took an interest in all three of the Pal brothers. In 2012, he joined the SAI Lucknow hostel and was drawn towards the pace and style of Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, who had been a batchmate of Jokhan’s.