Ashish Ballal has represented India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in the Olympics (1992-Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

), World Cup

World Cup

A World Cup is a type of sporting competition.World Cup commonly refers to:*FIFA World Cup *ICC Cricket World Cup*Rugby World Cup World Cup can also refer to:-Baseball and softball:...

 (1990-Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

), 3 Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy is the name of a number of different trophies in different sports:* Field hockey: Hockey Champions Trophy* Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy...

 tournaments (1989, 1993, 1996), 2 Asian Games

Asian Games

The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organised by the...

 (1994, 1998) and 2 Asia Cup

Asia Cup

The ACC Asia Cup is an international men's One Day International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years...

s (1989, 1993). Ballal became a household name

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 in India when he saved two tie-breaker goals in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 final between India and South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. India, captained by Ballal, went on to win the Asiad hockey gold at Bangkok after a gap of 32 long years.

For his outstanding contribution to the game of hockey, Ballal was bestowed with the Arjuna Puraskar in 1997 by the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. He coaches hockey players of India. In a laudable effort, he runs the Dhanraj Ballal Hockey Academy in Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

as his way of giving back to the game of hockey in India.