Ram Kumar (born 4 February 1964) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and coach of the junior Indian team. He is currently the coach of the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala team, and has been a long-standing coach of the Indian Railways men's team. He played for India during 1985 to 1996 and represented the

Indian national basketball team The India men's national basketball team represents India in international basketball. It is controlled by the Basketball Federation of India.

at several international championships. He also served as the captain of Indian national basketball team from 1991 to 1995. He played the position of

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

. In the National Championships, Ram Kumar represented

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

and during his playing days,

won eight Gold, three Silver, and three Bronze medals. Ram Kumar is the son of former basketball player Khushi Ram, an Arjuna awardee and the brother of Ashok Kumar, also an India international player. Considered India's best all-time shooter, he is the 2003 recipient of India's highest sporting honor, the

Dhyan Chand Award The Major Dhyan Chand Award, officially known as Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games, is the lifetime achievement sporting honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan C ...

for lifetime achievement in sports.

Career

He started his career in the year 1983, when he played his first national championship at

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

. Ram Kumar first joined

income tax department The Income Tax Department (also referred to as IT Department; abbreviated as ITD) is a government agency undertaking direct tax collection of the government of the Republic of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Mini ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

and later moved to Western Railway in the year 1987. He followed his father Khushi Ram's footsteps and became a basketball player. He was honoured by prestigious

in the year 2003 and also ''Maharana Pratap Award'' in the year 1989 for being the best sportsman of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. Kumar was top scorer at many national and international championships for India. His younger brother Ashok Kumar was also former international basketball player and former India captain. Kumar after his retirement in 2003 is serving as the coach of "

Basketball Team" and has also coached India Junior Basketball Team in year 2003 and 2004 that played at

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

where the Indian team won silver medal. He is currently working as a Senior Sports Officer at

Rail Coach Factory The Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala is a Passenger railroad car, coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was set up in the year 1985 with an investment of ...

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 ...

. In 2010, he was the coach of Indian team that won the Asia zone qualifying round for the 21st " FIBA Asia Cup Basketball Championship" to be held at

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and coached the Under-18 Indian National Basketball Team at Junior Asian Basketball Championship held at

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

in 2004 . ;Achievements in international fields: *Top scorer of tournament at world railway games in New Delhi in 1987 *Best player in S.A.F Games in Colombo in 1991 *Best scorer from India at Asian basketball championship at Seoul in 1995 *Top 3 point shooter at Asian basketball championship at Bangkok in 1987 *Top scorer in world railway games at Romania in 1991 *Best shooter at test matches played against U.S.A at New York in 1992

Awards and honors

(2003) *Maharana Pratap Award (1989) *Rail Minister Award (1994)

References

External links

Basketball Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ram 1964 births Living people Indian men's basketball players Basketball players from Rajasthan Recipients of the Dhyan Chand Award Indian basketball coaches Shooting guards