Krishan Bahadur Pathak (born 24 April 1997) is an Indian

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player who plays as a goalkeeper for the Indian national team.

Early life

Pathak was born on 24 April 1997 in

Kapurthala Kapurthala () is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent b ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He is of Nepalese descent; his parents migrated from Lugdi village in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

to Punjab in 1990. His ancestral village is about six hours away from the capital

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

. Despite not being interested in the sport, Pathak had joined the Surjit Hockey Academy in

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

when he was 12 at the insistence of his father. Pathak's mother died when he was 12, while his father Tek Bahadur Pathak, a crane operator, died of a heart attack in 2016.

Career

Pathak was part of the Indian junior team that won the 2016 Men's Hockey Junior World Cup in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. 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. 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 The 2018 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 37th and the last edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy for men. It was held from 23 June to 1 July 2018 in Breda, Netherlands. The tournament will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019. ...

where India won the silver medal and the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

where India won bronze. Pathak was the reserve goalkeeper at the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo where India won the bronze medal. Finally he won gold medal in

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

in Hangzhou.

Award

Pathak received the Arjuna Award from the President of India on 9 January 2024.

References

External links

Krishan Pathak
at

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men's and women's field hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting the ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pathak, Krishan 1997 births Living people People from Kapurthala Indian male field hockey players Male field hockey goalkeepers Field hockey players from Punjab, India Indian people of Nepalese descent 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists in field hockey 2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup players Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award