SK Uthappa: Let us wait and watch

The bubbling youngster is a delightful forward, and has come into the team with lot of promise. Its not all the time happens in Indian hockey that you go to Olympics having made it to Indian side only 4, 5 months before the Olympics.

Uthappa has done it and this writer brackets him in the wait and watch category, and remains to be seen how well he will cope up in the high voltage, and severely demanding event like Olympics. This notwithstanding his electric goal that he got for us when everyone else has lost hope, against Korea in the recent Azlan Shah Cup, and the clock has left just 3,4 seconds when the cracker of a winner came from him.

The 21-year-old may not have had to battle too many hardships in his life but his entry into the national squad did not come without a lot of hard work.

Hailing from Kodagu in Coorg district of Karnataka, Uthappa’s picking up hockey was not a surprise, given that the region has always been a rich nursery for the sport in India. However, having to move away from his home to Bangalore was a little difficult for the youngster. Having been selected for a special scholarship after being selected during a talent hunt by the Sports Authority of India at the age of 14 in 2005, he was expected to join the SAI Centre for Excellence in Bangalore. However, the love for the game helped Uthappa pursue the sport.

His talent evident, he was soon leading the Karnataka team in age group tournaments across the country, leading them to the under-20 national championships title in 2010. But he actually came into the limelight only last year, when he was named Player of the Tournament at the senior national championships in Bhopal. His prowess on the field had helped Karnataka reach the final, the first time the state had managed to do so.

His performances helped him get into the national probables for the training camp. After that, it was all about hard work to impress coach Michael Nobbs, something the youngster managed to do. He was in the team for the Asian Champions Trophy, the Olympic qualifiers, the four-nation test event in London and the recent Azlan Shah tournament. His game sense, sharp reflexes and aggression inside the D have made him a key member in the team management’s plans.

At 21, he is part of the youth brigade that coach Nobbs is relying on for long-term development of Indian hockey.