Baljit Sahni (born 12 January 1987) is an Indian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a forward.

Career

JCT

Sahni had played for JCT for 5 years. In the 2009–10 season he scored the first hat trick of the season against Shillong Lajong. On 11 November 2009 however Sahni was seriously injured in a bike accident along with teammate Sunil Kumar Thakur in

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population a ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

while the team were preparing for an upcoming match against Salgaocar in the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

. As a result of the accident Sahni required 25 stitches and he fractured his shin. At this point in the season Sahni was in top form with six goals in the opening seven matches. However, on 28 January 2010 Sahni played in his first game since the accident, coming on as a second-half substitute and he even scored a goal as JCT Mills defeated Sporting Goa 2–0.

East Bengal

In 2010 Sahni signed with

giants

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Eas ...

Retirement and financial struggle

Sahni faced monetary issues while playing, so he decided to retire early at the age of 31. Sahni said, "In 2019 I left for Canada. I was not getting paid enough. I had to earn my bread and butter and I also have a family to take care of. I retired from football because after football there is a life too and that is hard but you have to accept that life and take it on the chin."

Career statistics

Honours

;Atlético de Kolkata *

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahni, Baljit Singh Indian footballers 1987 births Living people I-League players Footballers from Hoshiarpur Footballers from Punjab, India India international footballers JCT FC players East Bengal Club players Indian Super League players ATK (football club) players Association football forwards