Baljit Singh Saini: Baljit Singh Saini was born on 12^th August, 1976 in Ropar district in Punjab but grew up in Kolkata. A fun-loving, colourful and graceful player, he also has the distinction of leading the Indian team at both the junior and senior levels. It was under his captaincy that India reached the final of junior World Cup for the first time ever in 1997 at Milton Keynes. Even though he started playing hockey as an inside-right, Saini’s long hockey career is known for his play as a right-half, succeeding in that slot for junior India captain Harpreet Singh. Saini represented India for a long period stretching from 1995 to 2003. He earned his India cap at the 1995 Indira Gandhi Gold Cup but had to miss most of the events after that until 1996 due to injury. He, however, managed to get back in form in the nick of time to make the squad for the 1996 Olympics, the first of his two Olympics. Saini also played two Asian Games (1998 and 2002) including the gold in 1998 and two World Cups (1998 and 2002). He was awarded the Arjuna in 2001 and also given the maharaja Ranjeet Singh award by the Punjab government. After quitting active play Saini -- among the more educated hockey players of his generation and n officer with Punjab & Sind Bank -- turned to coaching. He led the Punjab state team to bronze at the senior Nationals in 2011 before joining the senior Indian men’s team for a while in late 2011. He was also coach of the Indian juniors at the 2012 Junior Asia Cup in Malaysia, returning with bronze. Saini is based in Jalandhar.