Ashish Kumar Ballal (born 8 October 1970) is a former Indian goalkeeper of field hockey. He represented India in 275 international matches in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 1990 World cup, 3 Champions Trophy tournaments (1989, 1993, 1996), 2 Asian Games (1994, 1998) and 2 Asia Cups (1989, 1993). Ballal became a household name in India when he saved two tie-breaker goals in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games final against South Korea. India, captained by Ballal, went on to win the Asiad hockey gold at Bangkok after a gap of 32 years.[1]

Ashish Kumar Ballal
Personal information
Born (1970-10-08) 8 October 1970 (age 54)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior career
Years Team
Indian Airlines
National team
Years Team Caps Goals
India
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  India
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 1994 Hiroshima Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bangkok Team
Asia Cup
Silver medal – second place 1989 Delhi Team
Silver medal – second place 1994 Hiroshima Team

For his outstanding contribution to the game of hockey, Ballal was bestowed with the Arjuna Award in 1997 by the Government of India And the Eklavya Award in 2000 by the government of Karnataka. He coaches hockey players of India.[2] In a laudable effort, he runs the Ashish Ballal Hockey Academy in Bangalore as his way of giving back to the game of hockey in India.

Personal life

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Ballal hails from the Bunt community[3] and is married to Sahana. He is a father to two sons, Vansh Ballal and Yash Ballal.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Hockey win". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Ashish Ballal to coach". The Tribune. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
  3. ^ a b Aby Jose (20 December 2010). "Goalkeeper who chased goals with grit". Times of India. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
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