>Sumanuil at 21:04, 14 April 2021

2021-04-14T21:04:18Z

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{{short description|Indian kabaddi player}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Ajay Thakur
| image = Ajay Thakur Receiving Arjun Award 2019.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Ajay Thakur receiving Arjun Award 2019
| headercolor =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = Hindi
| birth_name =
| fullname = Ajay Thakur
| nickname = Ice Man,King of kabaddi
| nationality = [[India]]n
| ethnicity =
| citizenship = Indian
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|05|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Dabhota]], [[Nalagarh]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater = Government Post Graduation College, Nalagarh
| occupation = DSP, Kabaddi Player
| years_active = 2007-present
| employer =
| agent =
| height = 185 cm
| weight = 76 kg
| spouse = Sandeep Rana
| life_partner =
| other_interests =
| website =
| country = India
| sport = [[Kabaddi]]
| position = [[Raider (Kabaddi)|Raider]]
| event =
| league = [[Pro Kabaddi League]]
| league_type = [[Kabaddi]]
| club = [[Bengaluru Bulls]] <br/> [[Puneri Paltan]]<br/>[[Tamil Thalaivas]]
| team = [[India national kabaddi team]], [[Himachal Pradesh]]
| turnedpro =
| coach = Baskaran Kasinathan, Balwan Singh
| retired =
| worlds =
| regionals =
| nationals =
| highestranking =
| Match Played =
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{IND}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian Games]]}}
}}
{{MedalGold|[[2014 Asian Games|2014 Incheon]]|[[Kabaddi at the 2014 Asian Games|Team]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2018 Asian Games|2018 Jakarta]]|[[India at the 2018 Asian Games|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[2016 Kabaddi World Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2016 Kabaddi World Cup|2016 Ahmadabad]]|[[India national kabaddi team|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian kabaddi Championship 2017]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship|2017 Gorgan]]|[[India national Kabaddi Team|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters|2018 Dubai]]|[[India national Kabaddi Team|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian Indoor Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2007 Asian Indoor Games|2007 Incheon]]|[[Kabaddi at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games|2013 Incheon]]|[[Kabaddi at the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games|Team]]}}
}}
'''Ajay Thakur''' (born 1 May 1986) is an Indian professional [[Kabaddi]] player and the former captain of the [[Indian National Kabaddi Team]]. He was part of the national teams which won [[2016 Kabaddi World Cup]] and gold medal at [[Kabaddi at the 2014 Asian Games|2014 Asian Games]]. He was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] and [[Arjuna Award]] in 2019.

He is a member of [[Civil Services of India#Construction|Himachal Pradesh Police Service]] cadre who currently serves as [[Deputy superintendent of police]].

== Early life ==
Thakur was born in Dabhota village of [[Nalagarh]], [[Himachal Pradesh]]; his father's name is Chhotu Ram.<ref name="TNS">{{cite news |title=Kabaddi star ties the knot |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/kabaddi-star-ties-the-knot/756570.html |access-date=29 July 2019 |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |agency=Tribune News Service |date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190729192338/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/kabaddi-star-ties-the-knot/756570.html |archive-date=29 July 2019 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was inspired by his cousin Rakesh who had already represented India in Kabaddi at international level. He married Sandeep Rana on April 10, 2019.<ref name="TNS"/>

== Career ==
Ajay Thakur has been described as one of the best Indian raiders.<ref>
{{cite news
|title=Bengaluru Bulls gear up for Pro Kabbadi League
|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/Bengaluru-Bulls-gear-up-for-Pro-Kabbadi-League/2014/07/21/article2340444.ece
|work=[[The New Indian Express]]
|date=21 July 2014
|first=Svetlana|last=Lasrado
}}</ref> He represented his employer [[Air India]] at the Industrial National Championships.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://freepressjournal.in/air-india-haryana-sports-emerge-champs/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=9 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200530/http://freepressjournal.in/air-india-haryana-sports-emerge-champs/ |archive-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He has also captained India team in 2017 and led them to gold. He will also lead the Himachal men's team at the 67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championship 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://validate.perfdrive.com/sportskeeda/captcha?ssa=0e77e61b-1bb4-c8ab-7ae8-de2f715522ea&ssc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportskeeda.com%2Fkabaddi%2Fhimachal-pradesh-men-s-and-women-s-squad-for-the-67th-senior-national-kabaddi-championship-announced&ssi=ec36461e-a33a-34dd-f4fe-1fc7c07cca7f&ssk=contactus@shieldsquare.com&ssm=07001367648838904108434399477633&ssn=d0005093039c12e46a067c670a77e575d11ae4b1b81e-212c-fe31-3de78b&sso=3f4a84fc-43f9d65ad9faf47ee3e46128df1965066e9ba8d65e4122b1&ssp=52403520811583444804158340144046412&ssq=56521779436574827312694365321556244667673&ssr=MjA4LjgwLjE1My4yNA==&sst=ZoteroTranslationServer/WMF%20(mailto:services@lists.wikimedia.org)&ssw=|title=ShieldSquare Captcha|website=validate.perfdrive.com|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>

He is a member of [[Civil Services of India#Construction|Himachal Pradesh Police Service]] cadre who currently serves as [[Deputy superintendent of police]].<ref name="DSP">{{cite news |title=Kabaddi star Ajay Thakur takes up police duty in Himachal Pradesh during Covid-19 lockdown |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/other-sports/story/ajay-thakur-kabaddi-police-duty-himachal-pradesh-india-lockdown-covid-19-1660042-2020-03-26 |access-date=30 March 2020 |work=[[India Today]] |date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200330004737/https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/other-sports/story/ajay-thakur-kabaddi-police-duty-himachal-pradesh-india-lockdown-covid-19-1660042-2020-03-26 |archive-date=30 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Pro Kabaddi League==

===Season 1===
In Season 1, Thakur played 15 matches and scored 122 raid points as well as 5 tackle points while playing for [[Bengaluru Bulls]].<ref>https://www.prokabaddi.com/players/ajay-thakur-profile-26</ref>

===Season 2===
In season 2, Thakur played 13 matches and scored 79 raid points as well as 1 tackle point while playing for Bengaluru Bulls.

===Season 3===
In season 3, Thakur played 14 matches and scored 52 raid points as well as 4 tackle points while playing for Puneri Paltan.

===Season 4===
In season 4, Thakur played 16 matches and scored 63 raid points as well as 1 tackle point while playing for Puneri Paltan.

===Season 5===
In season 5, Ajay Thakur played 22 matches and scored 213 raid points as well as 9 tackle points while playing for Tamil Thalaivas.

===Season 6===
In season 6, Ajay Thakur played 22 matches and scored 203 raid points as well as 1 tackle point while playing for Tamil Thalaivas.

===Season 7===
In season 7, Ajay Thakur played 13 matches and scored 58 raid points while playing for Tamil Thalaivas.

===Kabaddi World Cup 2016===

He was the no.1 raider with most raid points and Ajay was the overall highest point scorer with 68 points.

India while playing Iran in the Kabaddi World Cup 2016 final, was in a trailing situation. In this situation, came Ajay scoring a 4-point raid to take India to the lead. He was also the Man of the Tournament in Kabaddi World Cup 2016.

Thakur was placed fourth among the best performing raiders in Season 1 of Pro kabaddi league.

<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.bengalurubulls.com/player/ajay-thakur-2/
|title=Ajay Thakur
|publisher=Bengaluru Bulls
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905172343/http://www.bengalurubulls.com/player/ajay-thakur-2/
|archive-date=5 September 2014
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Kabaddi-fever-peaks-for-tonights-finale/articleshow/41289235.cms
|title=Kabaddi fever peaks for tonight’s finale
|work=[[Times of India]]
|date=31 August 2014
|agency=TNN
}}</ref>

==Playing style==

He is an attacking player. He tries to draw out his team when fallen into critical situations. Once he had saved Tamil Thalaivas from going down to Bengal warriors and also had given a match-winning effort against Iran. Due to his height, he has one of the longest reaches (to the midline) in the current lot of players.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

== Achievements ==
His awards and achievements include:
* Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Kabaddi - Gold Medal [2013]
* Gold Medal at Kabaddi at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games
* 2014 Asian Games - Gold Medal.
* Asian Kabaddi Championship 2017(Gorgan, Iran) - Gold Medal.
* World Cup 2016 (Ahmedabad, India) - Gold medal
*Asian Games 2018 (Jakarta, Indonesia)- Bronze Medal
* [[Padma Shri]] award (2019)
* [[Arjuna Award]] (2019)

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Captains of Indian national sports teams}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Sports}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakur, Ajay}}
[[Category:1986 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian kabaddi players]]
[[Category:Asian Games medalists in kabaddi]]
[[Category:Kabaddi players at the 2014 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Kabaddi players at the 2018 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Kabaddi players from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:People from Solan district]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for India]]
[[Category:Asian Games bronze medalists for India]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award]]

Ajay Thakur - Revision history

>Sumanuil at 21:04, 14 April 2021