Born on 30th April 1995 into the small village of Malakpur near Baraut in Uttar Pradesh to a wrestling family, Nitin was naturally inclined to sports especially wrestling. His maternal uncles, Ashok Tomar and Prahlad Tomar were internationally recognized wrestlers and had brought home many accolades throughout their career. Another of his uncles, Rajiv Tomar was an Olympian wrestler and had been conferred with one of the highest honor in India for sports – The coveted Arjuna award. Young Nitin could not shy away from his genes. He did his schooling at Maharshi Dayanand Public school where he had a chance to take up Kabaddi as a regular school game due to lack of facilities in his school for practicing wrestling. However, this came as a blessing to the talented Nitin. He could practice more on his calling and took baby steps towards Kabaddi and could use his stamina that he garnered as a wrestler.

He performed so well in his school’s annual events that his teachers took him for local matches for more exposure. He played his Junior Nationals in Chhattisgarh and won gold, making it one of the major accolades of his life. Ever since he started playing, he used to go to gym and fitness training in the morning at 4 AM and then to school and practice Kabaddi in the evening. His family supported him wholeheartedly and in return he supported them financially when he used to win cash prizes in local tournaments. He graduated from Shamal Samark Inter-College where he got an opportunity to perfect his skills as a raider.

In 2012, there was a local Kabaddi tournament that was happening near his locality in the village of Dhanura. The Kabaddi teams of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy were also participating in this local match. This caught Nitin’s eye like a big opportunity and he participated in this tournament with his village team.

Considering his stellar performance against them, all the three forces offered him a chance to play for them and Tomar chose the Navy and started playing Kabaddi for the Navy under sports quota. Since then he represents Services in Nationals for Kabaddi. He garnered many accolades for the team and he kept perfecting himself as an elite player of the game.

Nitin Tomar PKL Career

Tomar found his way into the Pro Kabaddi League in its 3rd Season through Bengal Warriors. He scored 77 raid points in 10 matches. He was not retained by Bengal Warriors in spite of his performance. For Season 4, he represented Puneri Paltan and showed his courage by playing with an injured hand. His tenacity and endurance were appreciated by many players. He later went on to play a season of Pro Kabaddi League with U.P Yoddha captaining them to the payoffs. This showcased his leadership ability as well and he scored 177 points – the highest for his side in Season 5. He was a part of Puneri Paltan for three seasons. Nitin Tomar is currently working as Chief Petty Officer in the Indian Navy and is posted at INS Angre, a naval base in Mumbai. He was the star in his debut and his market value has taken a steady upward curve. The raider was the highest-paid player (Rs. 93 lakh bid by UP Yodha at the player auction) for Season 5, and his price tag crossed the one crore mark ( Rs. 1.15 crore auction bid by Puneri Paltan) last year. The Pune franchise utilized the Final Bid Match to bring back its star into the squad, albeit at a premium (Rs. 1.20 crore at 2019 auction).

Tomar was rightly nicknamed ‘UP Ka Bahubali’ during Season 5. In his 53 matches in Pro Kabaddi League in four seasons (till Season 7), he has scored a whopping 377 raid points. Out of the total 394 points he scored in the four seasons, 177 alone came in the season 5 of PKL which saw the raider in a lightning blaze. Season 7 was a relatively bad season for Tomar as he was injured for some time and he could not bring out his best for Puneri Paltan. He scored only about 73 points in 15 matches as Pune couldn’t reach the playoffs.

Nitin Tomar Skills

He uses running hand touch as his signature move. Enacted with surprise and coupled with a sudden increase in pace, he rushes towards the defenders and extends his entire body for a quick touch with his hand before escaping to safety. He is known for his resilience and has garnered a maximum of 20 points in a single match. Tomar believes in a disciplined life and his never give up attitude makes him one of the star athletes in the world. He dominates the court with his Bonus, escapes, turning and running hand touch skills. He uses his bonus skills exceptionally well and keeps the pressure built on the opposition. He is also very handy in defense and can play as a right corner which he does when he plays for Services.

Nitin Tomar International Career

His stellar performances in the Pro Kabaddi League did not go unnoticed and he represented India in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup which took place in Ahmedabad. India had won the first two Kabaddi World Cups and definitely were the favorites. However, the final match against Iran was no cakewalk. Until half time, India were behind and was looking at the face of defeat. Then came two lightning quick raids by Nitin Tomar and India were suddenly ahead.

He scored 6 raid points in that match and won India the world cup supporting the stellar performance of Ajay Thakur. The unpredictability of this raider in the mat is one of his greatest skills among many others in his arsenal. He was also part of the title winning team for Asian Kabaddi Championship in 2017.

Nitin as a player and individual is very calm, cool and down to earth, which has garnered liking even from the opposition. He considers former Kabaddi player Sanjeev Baliyan as his idol and motivation.His family is rooted to agriculture and that’s where his heart lies. In his free time he likes to join his father Jithendra Tomar and grandmother in agriculture and being with them as a dutiful son.