Dadwal: Looking ahead with confidence

It was a dream homecoming for the Chandigarh Dyanamo goalkeeper, who along with Rajpal Singh and Jaswinder Singh, was today honoured by the Chandigarh Hockey Association.

A slip of a lad with loads of talent, Dadwal made his international debut as goalkeeper at the junior level in a four-nation tournament in Poland in 2000. But he did not want to be a goalkeeper at first. 8220;I used to play as a right winger for my school team. It was during the Under-15 pre-Nehru Cup Tournament in 1993 that our frontline goalkeeper got injured and I had to fit into his role. Since then I have been enjoying my stint as goalkeeper,8221; said Dadwal, who is a product of the Local SD College, Sector-32.

A string of good performances at the domestic circuit saw Dadwal join Indian Oil in August 2000 and soon the young goalkeeper was eyeing a national berth.

But a shoulder injury forced him out of most of the next two seasons. 8220;I was lucky that I recovered fully from the shoulder injury. I was regularly playing for Indian Oil after that and was sure of getting into the national team,8221; said Dadwal.

Dadwal8217;s big break came in 2006, when he was named as reserve goalkeeper in the Indian team for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

His first international match was in the 16th Azlan Shah Tournament held in Malaysia. 8220;The goalkeeper8217;s spot in the Indian team has some stiff competition with me and Bharat Kumar vying for the slot. I am hopeful that my performance in the Asia Cup will strengthen my place in the team,8221; he said, having already played 16 international matches for India.