I profiled ‘2010 Azlan Shah’s Eleven Players’ for the Official Souvenir this year. The Souvenir has just been distributed on the eve of 20th Azlan Shah Cup being commenced. I thank Media Officer Satwant Singh for requesting me to do the writ up, and the Organizers for bringing out the beautiful souvenir on the first day of the Azlan Shah 2011.
Arjun Halappa: The diminutive dynamo of Indian hockey is an established midfielder. One of the gifted stars from the southern part of India (Coorg enclave of Karnataka State), who embellish the vast Indian canvas, Arjun started off the block as an inside-forward. With a striking ball control and immaculate sense of play, it was but natural for the artist to graduate to the role for which he is popular nowadays – play maker par excellence. The midfield maestro is a delight to watch, reminiscent of all that is vintage Asian stuff: ball control, deft dodges, deceptive moves. Omnipresent on the turf, he serves the ball selflessly, set up goals for others, secures penalty corners for his side in numbers with guile moves upfront. A Junior World Cup goldie (2001), Arjun won another metal of the same hue in his debut senior international outing itself – Prime Minister Cup (Dhaka, Bangladesh). His hunger for the top honour will entail extra quest now, as he leads Indian Challenge in the 2011 Azlan Shah Cup. With 230 plus international appearances, Arjun is the most capped Indian in the current Azlan outing. Being selected in the 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah’s XI must rank a great morale booster for the master of many a battle.
Sardar Singh: An engine room of Indian hockey, lanky Sardar Singh is an all weather hockey star likes of which must rank ‘dream come true’ for any aspiring coach. Never short of energy, the strongly built Sikh is an all rounder in every sense. In the short span of six years since making his international debut in 2006, Sardar Singh carved a niche for himself as a match winning player. Younger brother of Didar Singh, an international hockey player of repute, Sardar’s caliber was noticed during the 2006 India-Pakistan Test Series. Such was his role in defining teams’ fortunes that in the span of next two years he was elevated to captaincy (2008 Azlan Shah Cup). Fittingly, India reached the finals of the Azlan Cup that time, the feat coming after a gap of 12 years. It was a fitting tribute to the Sant Nagar (Haryana State) based Namdhari titan that it was he who scored the winning goal for bronze a year earlier in the same competition. India’s foreign coach Jose Brasa (Spain) assigned him the role of defender which he comfortably assumed to excel nowadays. From forward to midfielder to defender is short story for the Indian star for whom long journey awaits. The 25-year old was the most expected choice for the 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah’s XI.
Gurbaj Singh: A junior star to graduate to senior ranks gradually, Punjab’s Gurbaj Singh has had a dream run in the Indian team. He earned his senior international spurs in the high-voltage Asian Games (2006) after leading Indian colts to title win in the Hyderabad Junior Asia Cup. A livewire of all Indian teams that left the shores since then, Gurbaj is a delightful player blessed with unblemished techniques. Having a flair for stealing the balls down under the nose of maraud-intended forwards, he changes the course of the game the way his team likes to. Usually dons the traditional right-half position, he is the safe bet for Indian on the flanks. When chance comes, he also chips in with goals, a goal against Pakistan in the SAS 2010 is an instant example. Gurbaj has been winning a medal in the last four editions of Azlan Cups; no surprise the gifted midfielder cum defender was chosen one of the three Indians in the year’s Azlan Shah’s XI. A horse for the long races, Gurbaj has set lofty targets for himself which is difficult for others to match, not to speak of surpassing. A stickler to coaches’ plan and a fitness freak, Gurbaj is India’s jewel, Asia’s current wonder.
Kumar Subramanian: It is always easy to be a cog in the wheel, but the lion-hearted players don’t want to count so. They don’t like to be among the ordinaries. They strain every nerve to obtain that eluding extra bit that elevates an individual to stardom. Kumar Subramanian of Malaysia fits the description aptly. A goalkeeper of immense grit and determination, Kumar worked at every rung hard before measuring the full ladder. Kumar is now the numero uno goal-keeper of fast emerging Malaysia. It is in the cauldron of Azlan Shah Cups, in particular, Kumar showcased his skills that won the hearts of the crowd, while breaking the otherwise gainful rival forwards’. Occasions on which this last man in the Malay defence stood like a rock of Gibraltar were many as also number of times he got the Man of the Match awards. With an eagle’s eye, standing as if on a war zone, he thwarts the shots at goal with ease and élan. Tough physically and mentally, he overwhelms sharp shooters, the manner he does so evoking instant and unending applause from the stands. If Malaysia scaled new heights in 2010, which culminated in its first entry into the Asian Games hockey final, ahead of established entitles such as Korea and India, Kumar’s role under the cage is the X-factor.
Tengku Ahmad Tajudin: Sports needs role models. They attract crowd, sustain sports as an entity. Sporting arenas without role models peter out like food stuff without salt. These role models with their unique ability to bind the masses to their chosen discipline of sport, rise from every walk of life, convert the sport into the an art, and help it grow on a larger canvas. Tengku Ahmad Tajudin, elitist and stylish, is one such role model the contemporary Malaysian sport, possesses. Fleet footed and fast, the forward mesmerizes the crowd with amazing run downs upfront, sending shivers down the spine of the defenders. Goals, as and when come, as a result of such athleticism, seems a routine which otherwise is not. These stick artists of Tajudin’s mould make the difficult task of scoring as simple as possible; the simple task of defending for the rival teams as difficult as it can go. Some of the goals he posted in the Azlan Shah Cups are simply electric, shock of which is unrecoverable for the teams that conceded them. His goal in the last Azlan Shah Cup, for instance, a forehand scorcher from a difficult angle that unsettled the Indian defence, is one such. Most of his goals are such wonders. These are feats that transforms mortals into immortal, and Tajudin is definitely one such.
Baljit Singh Charun: A fragile frame that weighs below 70 kgs. Height is nothing special about, hovering around 5’5”. No rigidity on the face that would intimate rivals like many of his peers on the planet, do. He is Baljit Singh Charun, a Malaysian hockey star. His physical parameters normally swindle towards antithesis of any hockey player not the least a leading light as Baljit Singh is nowadays. Its spirit and energy, the twin factors that override physical parameters and drives Baljit chase the moon, and getting it too. The 25-year is now a player of repute, an impact making medio. A force to reckon with, that led Malaysia to take domineering initiative in many a battle in the year gone by that culminated into a silver lining at Guangzhou, first-ever Silver medal. The ‘smiling assassin’ is fulcrum on which the Malaysian juggernaut strode for the success. Early symptoms of which were noticed in the 2010 Azlan extravaganza where he was nominated one of the Sultan Azlan Shah’s XI.
Mohammad Imran: Pakistan came to Ipoh last year in its quest to refurbish its image which was shattered three months ago. At the Delhi World Cup in March 2010, the traditional power house Pakistan surprisingly finished last in the ranking chart. It fell on the shoulders of captain Mohammad Imran to initiate the rebuilding process and regain the confidence for which this country is known for. The best way to accomplish the process of reconstruction was to prove himself the best of the lot so that youngsters in the team would emulate the leader. The 31-year old Imran, the leader, did exactly the same in Ipoh. He marshaled the resources at his disposal very well, shone brilliantly at defence, scored half a dozen goals through set pieces, and oversaw a decent finish for his side. His role came in for praise as he almost dwarfed the absence Sohail Abbas, the penalty corner exponent, who was in Delhi but missed out the Ipoh number. Fittingly and expectedly, his role was acknowledged by the experts. He was lone Pakistan star among the best XI of the assembled lot. His services here, and the motivation the team obtained must have stood in good stead, as the team went to win the Asian Games gold, after a gap of 20 years, six months later.
Kieran Govers: Australia came to Ipoh last year fresh from winning the Delhi World Cup. Expectedly, the squad was experimental. The head coach Richard Charlesworth plodded half a dozen potential prospects in the team. Forward Kieran Govers was one such. No other player in the Australian team won the hearts of the crowd as was the case with Kieran Govers. The lanky striker did not let anyone down living upto the confidence reposed on him. With sharp eye and hawkish urge, he was often spot on to score. Quite often he opened the scoring for the Aussies in Ipoh. It was therefore fitting for him to punch a vital goal in the bronze medal match against the hosts. Both the teams were tied up 2-2 at that point of time when Govers came up with peach of a goal in the penalty corner drill. The guile goal broke the deadlock. Govers’ timely addition changed the course of the match, and they went on to annex the consolation bronze. The World Cup holders had just a token presence in the Sultan Azlan Shah’s XI, it was North South Wales star, Kieran Govers. He earned it the hard way.
Lee Nam Yeong: There are players in every team who can single handedly change the fortunes in their team’s favour. What’s known in sport parlance as ‘form’ is their constant companion. The 28-Year old Lee Nam Yeong is one such. Matches he won for his country, with extraordinary display of game skills, are countless. There was no surprise therefore on him being one of the unanimous choices for the first ever Sultan Azlan Shah’s XI. His form cannot be measured in numbers, though statistically speaking, he scored three goals, one apiece through field effort, penalty corner and penalty stroke. More than the numbers what counts is his all round ability to control the proceedings. The gifted all rounder has been in the national team since 2002, and continues to be among the Korean stalwarts.
You Hyo Sik: He is short. His build is not awesome. But he is a gazelle on the turf. He is speedy, opportunistic inside the circle. He of course has hockey genes in him. Son of a former women’s national team coach, Hyo Sik took up hockey early in his boyhood, and blossomed into a fantastic striker. Since making his international debut in 2002, he has been a main fixture in the Korea team. His career highlights include Korea winning the Gold at the 2006 Asian Games. The gifted forward was the captain when Korea successfully defended the title at Doha. Each victory pepped him for more, and he could stand up to the demands. At Kuantan in Malaysia, for instance, he was at his best in the Asia Cup. It was his prompt that led to a penalty corner that Kim Byung-hoon converted in the final. The lone goal gave the Koreans the Asia Cup honour. He was declared Player of the tournament there. Acknowledged as a great forward world wide, he has figured in the League competition in European and Asian countries. Its not a mere coincidence the striker wears the famed jersey No.10.
Hong Eun Seong: Hockey matches are won or lost in the midfield. However, the toil the midfielders make is not much noted and appreciated. There are exceptions to this. Hong Eun Seong is one such. His immaculate game, precision and power with which he distributes the ball, make everyone sit up and take note of him. He is a vital cog in the well-oiled Korean machine. Only a year ago, Malaysian public witnessed his near histrionic skills at Kuantan Asia Cup. He was declared Man of the Final when Korea edged Pakistan out in a tense final. He continued the same form for another year. At Azlan Shah Cup’s 19th edition, the towering player that Hong Eung Seong is, chipped in in adequate measure to propel his team to yet another final. The public though could not enjoy his repeat show in another final, as the rain gods had another idea on the eve of 2010 Azlan Shah Cup final.