Hope our gold medal at Asian Games will inspire kids of Chandigarh Hockey Academy: Sanjay
With his father Neki Ram being a small-time farmer at the village in Haryana, a young Kumar made into the Chandigarh hockey team at the junior level before breaking into the Indian junior team.
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Sanjay Kumar. Twenty-two-year-old Sanjay Kumar still remembers the bus journey in 2010 from his village Dabra near Hisar in Haryana to Sector 42 in Chandigarh to join the hockey academy. The youngster had undertaken the journey to appear in the trials at the Chandigarh Hockey Academy and the next eight years saw him training at the academy. On Friday, Kumar, a member of the Asian Games gold medal winning Indian hockey team, arrived in Chandigarh and the Haryana native was eager to get back to training at the Sector 42 academy.
“To win the Asian Games gold medal for India in hockey is a special moment for me as well as for the whole Indian hockey team. As a youngster training at the Chandigarh academy, I always dreamt about winning medals for India and to realise that dream is the biggest thing which I can ask from God. I hope this gold medal will inspire the kids at the academy as well as younger players,” said Kumar while speaking to The Indian Express.
With his father Neki Ram being a small-time farmer at the village in Haryana, a young Kumar made into the Chandigarh hockey team at the junior level before breaking into the Indian junior team. The youngster was part of the 2018 Youth Olympics silver medal winning team before he became the vice-captain of the Indian side in the 2021 FIH Junior World Cup. The Indian team finished fourth in the tournament and the midfielder scored two hat-tricks in the tournament.
“My father could do everything to support me and seeing me play for India brings him joy. Every time, I don the Indian jersey, I remember all the hardships faced by the family and when we won the silver medal in the Youth Olympics in Argentina, it was the reward for all the hard work. Even though we did not win the medal in the junior world cup, playing in front of the home crowd gave us a lot of confidence. It also made me ready for the senior circuit as well,” shared Kumar. who passed out from the Chandigarh Hockey Academy in 2018 but still continues to train there.
The right-half has so far played in 17 matches for the Indian senior team and has scored two goals in his international career. In Hangzhou, Kumar did not start in the seven matches but was fulfiling the right-half duty between quarters.
With foreign coach Craig Fulton bringing new players in the team, Kumar is hopeful of cementing his place in the senior team. “The best thing about this Indian hockey team is every player is adaptable to different positions and nobody is seeing his place as a guaranteed spot. With more competition, everyone is aiming to give their best and that’s what Fulton has emphasised upon. The next aim is of course the Paris Olympics and like the Youth Olympics, my aim is to play in the Paris Olympics and win a medal for India,” shared Kumar.
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