Haryana's gold in boys' hockey highlights impact of SAI's talent spotting and nurturing process

Rajgir, May 14 (IANS) Haryana boys regained their position in field hockey at the Khelo India Youth Games by breaking the strong resistance posed by Uttar Pradesh to clinch gold in front of a vociferous crowd at the Rajgir Sports Complex here late on Tuesday. Haryana won 1-0, courtesy Nishant’s 51st minute field goal in the fourth quarter.

Both Haryana and UP teams, comprised of more than 50% of Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) athletes, were locked in a stalemate till the end of the third quarter. A strong man-to-man marking from both sides ensured that most moves failed to cross the midfield. The game was quite thrilling than the scoreline suggests.

Haryana captain Pankaj Sharma said that the team knew that they would return minimum with the silver, so it was better to put in extra effort to secure gold. In the Khelo India Youth Games in Chennai last year, Haryana had settled for bronze after losing to Madhya Pradesh.

“We were trained to win. We already came with the thought that we weren't just going to play, but we were going to win, and we've achieved our goal. We knew the competition would be neck-to-neck, but I'd like to thank our coach (Gurbaz Singh) who trained us so well, and our whole team played well.

“We knew we'd already reached the finals and were already on track for the silver medal, so from that point, we had nothing to lose but gold to win. That's exactly what we did, and we made Haryana and our coach proud. Compared to our forwards, our defence played better today,” Sharma told SAI Media.

Haryana head coach Gurbaz Singh said that his team trained with full intensity during the camp organized by the state sports department in Sonepat in the build-up to the Khelo India Youth Games in Bihar.

Giving credit to NCOE Sonepat for providing the best training facilities and sports science support to his wards, Gurbaz said: “When we arrived, we knew we were there to win gold. Hockey turf has reached every nook and corner of Haryana. Our players are 'desi' and know how to tackle every situation with might. Eight to 10 players from our team are from NCOE in Bhopal and SAI Sonepat centre. They're being trained under the best Indian coaches, and the Government of India is supporting the players exceptionally well.”

Talking about his assessment of the Haryana team post the victory and what future he foresees for his wards, the coach said: “After watching our team's performance, I can definitely say that 5-6 athletes will go to the Junior Nationals and will play for India, which is scheduled in the next three months.

“Our management came here to watch our boys' performance so that we start shortlisting players for the junior nationals. Players who perform well there are most likely to get selected for the senior team. Who knows members of this team even get medals in the Olympics.”

A total of 46 NCOE athletes played in the youth boys hockey competition of KIYG 2025 and High-Performance Director for hockey Piyush Kumar Dubey elaborated how the Khelo India Games are a good platform for scouting talent. Shortlisted athletes are recommended to NCOEs for further training, where they receive the best calorie-based diet, sports science support for injury management and even international exposure.

“We have identified many players from the Khelo India Games. We selected players like Sharda Nand Tiwari, who is the captain of the junior Indian team. You will be astonished to know that there are 15 Khelo India Athletes (KIAs) playing here in the Youth Games and around 80 NCOE athletes – boys and girls – competing this year. In the last two years, our boys and girls’ teams have been to Europe for camps and a lot of these kids have been selected for the Junior India team as well,” Dubey told SAI Media.

With a set pathway created by SAI, Haryana boys will target events like the Nehru Cup, Shastri Cup and MCC Gold Cup in Chennai in the build-up to the Junior Nationals.

--IANS

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