Savita Punia is an Indian women’s hockey goalkeeper. She is also a hockey player and a member of the Indian national hockey team. In 2018, she received the Arjuna Award for excellence in hockey.
Wiki/Biography
Savita Punia was born on Wednesday, July 11, 1990 (age 31; as of 2021) in Jodhkan village, Sirsa district, Haryana state, India. Her zodiac sign is Cancer. She was educated at Maharaja Girls’ School, Agrasan, Haryana.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′7″
Weight (approximately): 60kg
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family and caste
Parents and siblings
The names of her parents are unknown.
Savita Punia and her mother
Savita Punia and her father
Her grandfather’s name was Mahinder Singh.
Savita and her grandfather
She has a brother and a sister.
Savita Punia with her brother and sister-in-law
Savita Punia and her sister
husband
She got married to Canadian software engineer Ankit Balhara on April 5, 2023, at Park Plaza Hotel, Chandigarh.
Savita Punia wedding photos
Profession
Savita Punia was encouraged to play hockey by her grandfather when she was a student. Soon, she was admitted to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center in Hisar. Her first hockey coach was Sunder Singh Kharab. In the early days of learning hockey, Savitar didn’t have much interest in the sport. Later, her father bought her a hockey equipment worth Rs 20,000. This piece of hockey gear paved the way for her to take the sport seriously. According to Savita, the hockey equipment her father bought changed her mind and kept the sport in her mind. She revealed in an interview,
My attitude towards the game has changed since my dad bought me this kit. My passion to work hard and make the national team was a reward for the hard work he put in for me. “
In 2007, she began training under the guidance of top goalkeepers. Soon, she participated in the state-level hockey tournament in Lucknow and won the maiden award. In an interview, she talked about her family situation when she started playing national-level competitions,
Starting from the fifth standard, after my mother fell ill and was hospitalized, I took care of everything at home. But my grandfather insisted that I leave home to achieve more, and the rest of the family was very open to wanting me to achieve something. “
In 2007, she participated in national level hockey competition for the first time. Savita Punia made her international debut in 2008 at a four-nation event in the Netherlands and Germany. In 2009, she participated in the Junior Asia Cup as a member of the Indian Hockey Team. In 2011, Punia participated in the adult international competition for the first time. In international competitions, she has participated in more than 100 games. In 2013, she participated in the 8th Women’s Asian Cup in Malaysia and saved two major goals in the penalty shootout to help India win the bronze medal. Savita Punia was part of the Indian hockey team that won the bronze medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. Punia won the Baljit Singh Goalkeeper of the Year Award at the Hockey India Annual Awards 2015 and received a cash prize of Rs 100 crore. 100,000. She received the award for her outstanding international contribution to the sport of hockey. Punia was at her best as a goalkeeper in the final seconds of a penalty corner against Japan in 2016. In the end, the Indian team won with a score of 1-0 and participated in the Rio Olympics again after 36 years. In 2017, at the Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand, the Indian hockey team finished sixth due to their outstanding performance in the competition. Around the same year, her stellar performance as a goalkeeper helped the Indian women’s hockey team defeat Chile in the second round of the final. In 2018, she served as an outstanding goalkeeper and protected the Indian team from the Chinese team in the Asian Cup final. After the game, she was awarded the best goalkeeper award of the tournament. The win helped the Indian women’s hockey team qualify for the 2018 World Cup in London. The Indian women’s hockey team has been selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In an interview with the media, Savita Punia lamented her feelings and goals,
Rio is behind us and our goal is to come back with a medal in Tokyo. There is tremendous confidence in this team, this team can beat any top team on a given day. We no longer have the fear factor. “
medal
- 2014: Asian Cup Bronze Medal in Incheon, South Korea – 3rd place in the team
- 2017: Gold Medal – 1st place in Team Competition, Gifu, Japan
- 2018: Jakarta Asian Games Silver Medal – 2nd place in the team
Favorites
- Exercise: Strength
- Award-winning moments: 2017 Asian Cup (Best Goalkeeper) and 2018 Asian Games (Silver Medal) and Arjuna Award.
Facts/Trivia
- In her free time, Savita Punia enjoys watching movies and reading about goalkeepers and other goalkeepers’ experiences.
- During her initial days practicing hockey, she started playing as a midfielder. A year later, her hockey mentor Sundar Singh Kharab wanted her to become a goalkeeper. Her height was the reason behind it and he also suggested that her goalkeeping would increase her chances of being selected for the Indian hockey team. Her grandfather said in an interview,
Mr. Karab told me that Savita could be a good goalkeeper because of her height. In fact, when she was only 12 or 13 years old, he assured me that she would join the Indian team. “
- In 2016, Punia accused the Haryana government of promising her a job under the Order of Laos, Nokri Bao scheme but not receiving the same treatment. She said in an interview,
I only have assurances from government officials. This is what I have been living on for the past three years. “
- In 2018, Savita Punia received the Arjuna Award for her outstanding performance as a goalkeeper in hockey.
Savita Punia wins Arjuna Hockey Award 2018
- Savita Punia says her sporting role model is her grandfather. She said in her biography,
My grandpa, it’s because of him that I’m here. He has been very supportive. He always encourages me very much. I think I am able to achieve what I am today because of his encouragement and blessing. I remember when I first played for India, Dadaji heard about it in the newspapers and at the age of 67 he decided to learn to read. After about a year, he learned to read and then asked me to sit next to him and read the news out loud. It was such a great moment and the biggest inspiration to me. “
- In an interview with the media, she revealed that she was afraid of hockey when she first started learning. She revealed in an interview,
After graduating from CET-6, I studied in a dormitory. The dormitory is two hours away from home. I would come up with several excuses to avoid hockey practice. Because of my height, I was appointed goalkeeper. I’m very afraid of balls. “
- Punia said the experience of representing India in an international match for the first time gave her goosebumps. She said in an interview,
I remember the first time I walked on the field to sing the national anthem, I got goosebumps and decided I was going to sing it with all my heart. This was a life-changing moment for me. Even though I was the second wicketkeeper after Deepika Murthy, it was a great experience. “
- Punia said in an interview that hockey has given her family a lot of respect, which is what she loves most about the game. she says,
My family has received a lot of respect through hockey – that’s my favorite part. When I started playing, no one in our village really played any sport. Now, because of my performances, people are starting to understand me. “
- As a sports star, Punia does a lot of intense workouts every day. She said in an interview,
Our day usually starts with an individual high-intensity workout or bodyweight training, and then we move on to some analysis given to us individually by the coaching staff. “
Savita Punia while working out
- Savita Punia shared her thoughts on winning the competition in a video interview.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education