Hockey: In Kukuda’s Sunelita Toppo and Sonepat’s Sakshi Rana, two teenage hopes for India’s future

For those fleeting few seconds, it was easy to forget that Sunelita was all of 17. By the time she’ll legally be an adult, Sunelita could well be a ‘veteran’ on the hockey field. Within a year of her debut at the age of 16, she has made more than two dozen international appearances.

Like her, another 17-year-old has been turning heads over the last week in the FIH Pro League. Sakshi Rana wasn’t in the playing squad in India’s 1-0 win over Germany, a fine reversal after Thursday’s thrashing, but she’s already announced herself as the next big thing in Indian hockey.

Making her debut against Spain a couple of days ago, she smartly stole the ball from a defender at the edge of the ‘D’, took a step forward and unleashed a vicious tomahawk that beat the goalkeeper at her near post.

As India aim to return to the Olympic stage, after missing the Parisien bus, the two teenagers have injected a dose of freshness and verve. It isn’t the first time India’s women’s hockey team has turned to teenagers in times of crisis. Win or lose, India’s commitment to blood young players and throwing them into the deep end has been unwavering.

It goes back more than a decade ago when 14-year-old Rani Rampal became the youngest Indian to play an international match. It was a time when India were a bunch of no-hopers in world hockey and in Rani, they hoped to have someone who could at least score goals. She did that — and a lot more, becoming one of the pillars of a side that went on to set many firsts.

Years later, when India finished with a wooden spoon on their Olympics return, they turned to a 16-year-old from Kolasib in Mizoram who couldn’t speak Hindi or English but had a mean hit and an unerring eye for goal — Lalremsiami.

In that sense, turning to two 17-year-olds — the youngest in the Indian squad in this tournament — in the rebuilding phase post-Paris is a natural way to go for India. Yet, to understand how far Sunelita and Sakshi have come, it is first important to understand where they come from.

Incredible journeys

Kukuda, a tiny hamlet in one of the border districts in western Odisha, is quite literally the back of beyond: drive past the swanky Birsa Munda Stadium to exit the city, pass the caves where Veda Vyasa is believed to have written the Mahabharata and cruise along the smooth Biju Expressway for roughly 40 km to reach the village where an unsung hero of Indian hockey, Dominic Toppo, has been producing players for decades.

A self-taught coach with rustic methods, Dominic started an academy on a dusty field in Kukuda where the state has now laid a beautiful blue turf. It was here, under the 72-year-old’s tutelage that Sunelita began her journey. “He taught me how to hold the stick, how to roll the ball, dribble, shoot… It’s because of him that I am here,” Sunelita says.

Far away from Kukuda, Sakshi took her first steps on what was once a grazing ground in Sonepat under former India international Pritam Siwach. The Dronacharya Awardee, who has unearthed gems from the Haryana town, has no doubt that Sakshi ‘is going to become a world-class player’.

“She has God-given talent. She is young and her (game) intelligence is very good too,” vouches Pritam, whose son Yashdeep is a defender with the men’s team and daughter Kanika was part of the victorious Odisha Warriors squad in the women’s HIL.

Women’s team chief coach Harendra Singh says that a shallow player pool means coaches are always on the lookout for the best talents in the domestic circuit.

“The moment a young player is spotted, she is called to the national camp to ensure her development is done in the right way,” Harendra says. “They are put in a healthy, competitive environment because on the field, if you are a good player age doesn’t matter. And looking at them, other teenagers are also motivated. So it’s a cycle.”

Thrusting teenagers into the spotlight can come with its pitfalls. Sjoerd Marijne, the former India coach who is here as the assistant coach of the Netherlands, says it is crucial to wrap the teenagers in cotton wool and ensure they aren’t overburdened.

Under him, Siami made her international debut at 16. “I picked her because of her hockey skills, that mattered to me. But yeah, you teach them to deal with the ups and down; that you won’t play five good matches in a row,” Marijne says. “I gave her easy tasks initially — protect the ball, keep it with the team, and put good pressure by having the left hand on the ground (to not get beaten). Small goals to start.”

Siami shared the room with Rani, who mentored her. Now, life’s come full circle for her. Last year, when Sunelita made her international debut, the then 16-year-old stayed with Siami.

”She’d gone through this phase,” Sunelita says. “And her advice to me was simple: whatever happens, no matter how good you play, remain grounded and stay true to your roots. That’s one thing I remind myself daily.”