Selvaraj Thirumala Valavan was born on 27th November in the year 1970 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Selvaraj Thirumala Valavan is a former field hockey midfielder. In February 1997, he made his international debut for the Men`s National Team against Poland. At the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, Valavan represented his native country. At the tournament India finished in seventh place.

He is presently working as the clerk in Indian Bank. His father Selvaraj played for State Bank of India and brother Thirugnam currently plays for Madras Port Trust. Selvaraj Thirumala Valavan currently plays for Indian Bank Team, Tamil Nadu in the position of Centre-Half. For his outstanding contribution to the field of Hockey, he was conferred the award Tamil Nadu Chief Minister`s Sports Award in the year of 1999-2000. In the national level he has played the tournaments National Championship respectively in Dec 2000 held at Jammu, Mar 1999 held at Hyderabad where the team finished at the 2nd position, May 1997 held at Bangalore and finished at 2nd position. He also participated in the year Dec 2002 - Hyderabad, Jun 1997 - Bangalore. Selvaraj Thirumala Valavan also took part at the Muruguppa Gold Cup in the year Jul 1998 - Chennai (lost in semi-final).

He has never played for any foreign clubs like other professional field hockey player. Selvaraj Thirumala Valavan has played 172 matches in the international arena with debut in the year 1997 against Poland. The tournament was held at Chennai and in that India won by 2-0-1. Other international tournaments played by him are:
1. Olympics --- Sep 2000 - Sydney (7th)
2. World Cup --- Feb/Mar 2002 - Kuala Lumpur (10th), May 1998 - Utrecht (9th)
3. Champions Challenge --- Dec 2001 - Kuala Lumpur (1st)
4. Asian Games --- Dec 1998 - Bangkok (1st)
5. Indo-Pak Series --- Feb 1999 - Lost 3-6; Feb/Mar 1998 - Lost 3-4
6. Commonwealth Games --- Sep 1998 - Kuala Lumpur (4th)
7. Sultan Azlan Shah Cup --- Feb 2000 - Kuala Lumpur (3rd)
8. Prime Minister`s Gold Cup --- Mar 2001 - Dhaka (1st)
9. Australian Tour --- Apr 2000 - Sydney (3rd in 4-Nation); Apr 2000 - Perth (1st in 4-Nation)
10. European Tour --- Jul 2001 - World Cup Qualifier (5th); Jan 2000 - Barcelona (3rd in 4-Nation), 1 GOAL; Jan 2000 - Belgium (2-0-1); Jan 2000 - Canada (1-0-0); Jun 1999 - Germany (1-3-0); Jun 1999 - Belgium (3-0-1); Aug 1997 - Last in 4-Nation Tourney.
11. New Zealand Tour --- Jun 2001 - Lost 1-2-1
12. South African Tour -- Aug 1999 - Johannesburg - Lost 0-3-2
13. Test Series --- Jan 1998 - vs. Germany - Lost 0-3-1; Feb/Mar 2001 - vs. Germany - Lost 1-2.