Welcoming back to all our hockey players was a moment of immense honour and pride for me. Watching them celebrate all their achievements for what they accomplished at Tokyo Olympics was absolutely breathtaking, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for making the whole country proud.
I can’t help but think back to the start of my own career. I joined my dad’s company Vijayanti when I was just 17 years old and took the brand to an international level. On this journey to making Vijayanti a globally renowned brand, I interacted with numerous national and international hockey players from around the world and soon realised my extreme love for the sport. Some extraordinary players from India worth mentioning are hockey players like Dhanraj Pillay, Mohammed Shahid, Zafar Iqbal, Jude Felix, Sujit Kumar, Jagbir Singh, Harinder Singh and some wonderful coaches like Cedrick Dsouza.
I was made joint secretary of ‘Hockey Punjab’ (now ‘Hockey India’) in 1997. After the federation’s conversion into Hockey India in 2017, I was elected the President of the federation. One of the athletes that I had the honour of coming across on this journey is Pargat Singh Powar, whom I’ve known for the past 33 years. An exceptional player and an even better human being, Pargat Ji has been one of the greatest value adds to Hockey Punjab and Hockey India.
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On behalf of our entire country, I would like to extend my warmest and best wishes to all the players who strive hard to represent our country and make us feel proud of their accomplishments.
Nitin Kohli - President Hockey Punjab.