Mr. Varun Kumar, Indian professional field hockey player, Olympian, a defender playing for the Punjab Warriors in the Hockey India League & the Indian National Team bestowed the honor upon Vertos with his presence on the 75th Independence Day of India, 15th, of August 2020 on Lovely Professional University’s official Instagram handle hosted by none other than Head & Additional Dean Dr. Sorabh Lakhanpal, sir.
The session took off, with our nation’s pride Olympian Mr. Varun Kumar, receiving tons of congratulations from the audience, as he was one of the players who revived the Indian National Hockey Team after 41 years of dormancy by winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020! Dr. Sorabh Lakhanpal began by asking Olympian Mr. Varun how as a defender, he was able to score goals and his experience at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Olympian Mr. Varun narrated the importance of teamwork in a fast-paced game like Hockey on an international platform like the Olympics, and he gave all credits to his teammates for letting him secure the goal!
Olympian Mr. Varun shared his journey with Hockey, which started during his school days when his senior Mr. Manpreet Singh (Now Olympian and captain of the Indian National Hockey Team) culminated intuitiveness within him regarding Hockey. At first, his finances weren’t strong, but with hard work, he got a platform to flaunt his skills in Hockey, which soon became his profession. His parents were originally from Himachal Pradesh, but he was born in the city of legends Mithapur, Punjab, which is why he plays for Punjab.
He elaborated how he felt when he earned the medal for his country! Considering, Hockey is our national game, Mr. Varun stated it got left behind in time. But thanks to events in Tokyo Olympics 2020, it has been getting the attention which it deserved. He gave special thanks to FIH President Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, the Chief Minister of Odisha, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, and Lovely Professional University, who actively promoted Hockey in our country.
His message to budding athletes at Lovely Professional University comprises of a trifecta of three magical words “hard work,” “focus,” and “patience.” He also shared that Olympian Mr. Manpreet Singh was his favorite role model whom he looked up to. He stated as of now, he’s planning to rest, but soon he will start preparing for Asian Champions Trophy, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, etc. He also shared how they shared a sense of familiarity being a part of the Lovely Professional University family uplifted their team spirit.
As the session progressed towards an end, Olympian Mr. Varun also commented on the Lovely Professional University’s Olympic Anthem “Abhi toh aur aage jana hai,” he used to listen to this song before his game. With that, our nation’s pride signed off!
