We need players with power and speed: Thoiba

Sudheendra Tripathi, TNN

BHOPAL: Hockey in India has had the privilege of having the patronage of Thoiba Singh and as a dauntless pedant, the diminutive left-winger surged forward relentlessly during his heyday. Believing in action over words, Thoiba played hockey meritoriously till he took a hiatus from the national sport. Noiselessly, he pursued his ardour for hockey off the field until he was once again called upon as a revered selector to pick the Indian hockey team.

Thoiba was an integral part of the Indian team in the eighties and was very popular among the hockey fraternity. So, after briefly coaching Imphal Rangers (Tier II) in the Premier Hockey League (PHL), why then he chose to stay away from the limelight for such a long time? “I was never asked to take up any responsibility by the federation,” he says succinctly.

But the 56-year-old quickly adds, “I was actively involved with the sport in my personal capacity. I trained boys who came to me and even supported some of the more needy ones monetarily.”

Thoiba’s advent into active Indian hockey administration initiated last year when he was elected president of the Manipur Hockey Federation. Once into active administration, Hockey India roped him in as a national selector. So, from the far eastern and picturesque city of Imphal, he has now landed in scorching Bhopal, scanning hundreds of hockey players who are plying their trade in Hockey India’s inaugural edition of the Senior Hockey Nationals.

“Some players are really good,” he says. But insists lot needs to be done to prepare a competitive team at the international level. “Modern hockey has a lot to do with speed and power. We need athletes, players who have the power and speed. But our players are still focusing on the skill aspect of the game. It is time we start realizing what is required at the international level and quickly start adapting.”

Thoiba, who is one of the six selectors, will pick around 100 probables for a camp which will conducted a week after (tentatively) the Nationals are over. With the Olympic qualifiers coming up, selectors hinted the focus will be on the core group. But extraordinary talent will be inducted into the core group before naming the final squad.