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Indian drag flick specialist and defender Sanjay is eyeing a debut in the senior men's hockey team after an incredible run at the inaugural edition of the 2022 FIH Hockey 5s tournament.
The Indian men's hockey team outplayed Poland 6-4 to clinch the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey 5s tournament on Sunday (June 5). Bobby Singh Dhami (11', 19'), Mohammed Raheel (13', 17'), Sanjay (8') and skipper Gurinder Singh (9') were the goal scorers for India on the big day.
While addressing the Hockey Te Charcha show, Sanjay spoke about competing in Lausanne. He said:
"It was a fantastic experience for us to play in a beautiful place like Lausanne where many spectators turned up to watch our matches. Hockey 5's is a very entertaining format and there is intense action every second and one has to be very alert when playing."
"The past 5-6 years have been very interesting for me and I have learnt a lot in these years. It feels great every time my name was announced in the India junior side. My family also feels thrilled when I am named in the squad, now I really want to take this up a notch and want to play for the senior side. I will work hard for it."
He added:
"We met many fans, particularly Indians and Pakistanis, who said they have been living there for more than 20 years but never witnessed something like this before and were very happy to watch us play."
Sanjay also spoke about playing in a similar format at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where India bagged a silver medal. He said:
"I really like playing this format. Since Pankaj, myself and a few others had the experience of playing this format before, it was a lot easier for us to get adapted. Although we got off to a shaky start against Switzerland, we improved game-by-game and went through a lot of video analysis and changed our tactics which worked for us."
Sanjay recalls his journey
Sanjay embarked on his journey in hockey from Dabra Village in Hisar, Haryana at a very young age. From borrowing a hockey stick for 15-20 minutes every day to representing India, Sanjay has come a long way.
Speaking about the same, Sanjay said:
"I used to go to the ground with my brother where I used to watch some seniors play hockey. I never used to have a hockey stick back then but I used to borrow from some of the seniors and played for 15-20 minutes every day. I enjoyed it a lot and when you have so much interest in something, you will eventually improve in it and that's what happened with me."
He added:
"I played for about four years in my village before moving to the Chandigarh Hockey Academy where I honed my skills and was so inspired by all the top international players who used to come to Sector 14 to use the stadium and the gym. Regular conversations with them inspired me to dream big."
Also read: Mohammed Raheel shares his experience following an outstanding FIH Hockey 5s tournament
