Vivek Sagar Prasad (born 25 February 2000) is an Indian field hockey player from Madhya Pradesh and a two-time Olympian bronze medalist. He plays as a midfielder for the Indian national team.[2][3] He is a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics and won his second bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics at Paris.[4]
_(cropped).jpg) Vivek Sagar Prasad at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vivek Sagar Prasad | ||
| Born |
25 February 2000 Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, India[1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Madhya Pradesh Police | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) | |||
| Madhya Pradesh Police | |||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Caps | Goals |
| 2017–2021 | India U21 | 12 | (1) |
| 2018– | India | 160 | (21) |
Medal record | |||
| Last updated on: 5 August 2021 | |||
In January 2018, he became the second-youngest player ever to debut for India at 17 years, 10 months and 22 days. At the 2019 Hockey Stars Awards, Prasad was named the FIH Rising Star of the Year.[5] At the 2020-21 FIH Player of the Year Awards, he was named the FIH Young Player of the Year.[6]
Early life
editVivek Sagar Prasad was born in the village of Shivnagar Chandon near Itarsi town in Madhya Pradesh.
When he was young, he liked to play chess, badminton and cricket and it was only by chance that he got introduced to hockey around 2010-11 when the local hockey coach offered to train the students who wanted to try out the sport.
Hockey soon captured the young Prasad's imagination. Even in his spare time, he practiced in a small corner near his house and found himself playing beyond the school level in a few months. While playing at a local senior-level tournament in Akola in 2013, he caught the eye of Ashok Kumar (field hockey), who scored the winning goal in the 1975 Hockey World Cup final and is the son of Indian legend Dhyan Chand.
After the match, he was offered a placement at Ashok Kumar (field hockey) MP Hockey Academy in Bhopal. The talented midfielder grabbed the opportunity with both hands and honed his skills at Ashok Kumar's institute for the next few years.[7]
International career
editPrasad scored the equalizing goal for India in the 42nd minute in the final of the 2018 Champions Trophy against Australia, a match that India went on to lose in the penalties.[8] At the 2019 FIH Series Finals in Bhubaneswar, Prasad was named the best young player at the tournament.[9] In December 2019, he was nominated for the FIH Rising Star of the Year Award.[10] He won the award by getting 34.5 per cent of the votes and he became the first Indian player to win an FIH Award.[5] He was part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games. Finally he won gold medal in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.[11]
Junior Hockey
editPrasad, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, made an impressive start to his career in the Junior India side. He Captained the team which took part at the 2017 Sultan of Johor Cup, where he led his side to the Bronze Medal .[12] He won the Player of the Tournament award and caught the eye of erstwhile Indian senior coach Sjoerd Marijne.A national camp call up followed.
Prasad led the Indian junior team at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. Not only did he play an important role in the midfield but he was also India's joint-highest goal-scorer for India in the tournament. In the final against Malaysia, Vivek Sagar Prasad scored twice but India went on to lose 4-2 and settled for silver. [13]
He also captain Indian team at the 2021 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup where they lost Bronze medal match with france and secure 4th position.
References
edit- ^ "Jr hockey team captain's village doesn't have a road". The Times of India. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Sen, Debayan (9 January 2018). "Teenager Vivek Sagar Prasad on the cusp of Indian history". ESPN.in. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Vasavda, Mihir (18 March 2018). "Coached by Dhyan Chand's son, hockey prodigy Vivek Sagar Prasad set to fill Sardar Singh's big shoes". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Sportstar, Team (6 July 2024). "List of Indian medallists participating in Paris 2024 Olympic Games". Sportstar. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Vivek Sagar Prasad named 2019 FIH Men's Rising Star of the Year". The Times of India. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Hockey: India sweeps FIH annual awards". The Times of India. 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Who is vivek sagar prasad". olympics.com. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Champions Trophy: India lose to Australia in final". ESPN. 4 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
- ^ "Home Turf Success for India". fihseriesfinals.com. International Hockey Federation. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ^ "Manpreet Singh nominated for FIH Player of the Year award". The Times of India. Lausanne. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "Asian Games Results". 2022 Asian Games, Hangzhou. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Prasad to lead Indian colts at Sultan of Johor Cup". thehansindia.com. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ^ "indian hockey player vivek prasad 2018 youth olympics silver medal". olympics.com. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
