JOIN USPromising goalkeeper Arun meets tragic end
Kumar, HASC’s third-choice custodian, suffered a heart attack and breathed his last at the HAL hospital. After complaining of chest pain in the morning, he was rushed to the hospital.
After several failed attempts by the doctors to revive him, he was declared dead. Authorities at the HAL hospital were unavailable for comment.
The 23-year-old from Kolar had just recently undergone treatment for a cracked shinbone suffered during a practice session a couple of days ago.
“I heard he complained of chest pain in the morning a little after he woke up. But by the time they got him to the hospital, it was too late. It is just really really sad and hard to believe,” fellow HASC goalkeeper P Pramod said.
Kumar was a product of Sports Authority of India, for whom he played for four years from 2005. Aslam Khan, Kumar’s coach during that period, said he had been a promising goalkeeper who could have gone on to greater things.
“He was a very good player right from when he was young. I picked him up from KGF when he was a teenager,” Khan said. “He always had the natural instincts and physique required to be a goalkeeper. He did really well for us during that four-year period.
“He represented SAI in the III Division I-League in Kerala in 2008, and after he did brilliantly in that tournament, Viva Kerala picked him up to play for them in Division II the following year. It’s just very sad that he has been taken away at a young age. He had a great future ahead of him.”
A nephew of former BEML player S Rajan, Kumar was on a one-year contract with the Aircraftmen after leaving Viva Kerala at the end of last season. He had been staying at the HAL quarters when tragedy struck.