There was spark in Diwakar Ram’s eyes whenever the Indian forwards manufactured a penalty corner during the recently held sixth Junior Asia Cup hock ey tournament. All pumped up, the 18-year-old would execute a drag-flick that would send the ball past the bemused opposition.

Adjudged the player of the tournament, Diwakar scored 10 goals, the last two in the final against South Korea. Diwakar’s first goal in the final was the equaliser that helped India level the scores after SV Sunil had reduced the margin. Then, with the match dragging into extra-time, a penalty corner came as the moment of reckoning for Diwakar. Keeping his cool, the youngster scored to help India retain the title.

Can Diwakar help revive India’s fortunes in the global arena? “Yes,” says coach AK Bansal. “He will be an important member of the Indian team on the road ahead.

While we have suffered for long for want of drag-flickers capable of delivering the goods, Diwakar and Sandeep Singh promise to become a deadly pair of match-winners. The onus is now on the forwards to create penalty-corners for these two boys.” What excites Bansal is that the two drag-flickers are different in style. “Sandeep is tall, powerful and aggressive. He has more variations and can shoot from difficult angles. Diwakar too has good variations. He is a tricky customer and learning fast. He must keep working on his strengths,” says Bansal.

Apart from contributing as a drag-flicker Diwakar is making progress as a defender. “It is not as if Diwakar is only a drag-flicker. He is a confident tackler and his work in the defence is improving with each match. I always tell him that he can’t command a place in the team purely as a drag-flicker,’’ says Bansal.

Former Indian skipper Dilip Tirkey sees a bright future for Diwakar. “He reads the game well, has good ball sense and defending skills. His basics are good. He goes for the ball and rarely makes mistakes while tackling.

Defenders can be seen as villains if they concede penalty corners. But Diwakar is an intelligent player and clears the ball cleanly ,’’ says Tirkey.

Diwakar has the promise, but there is still a long way to go. “It is important for a drag-flicker to put in an extra two hours of work on the field. He has to hit at least hit 100 to 200 balls in each practice session. It is a simple case of practice making perfect,’’ says Bansal.

A fan of Jugraj Singh and Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas, Diwakar believes in hard work.

“I want to emulate the feats of Jugraj and Sohail, who were master drag-flickers. Sandeep has taught me a few tricks,’’ says Diwakar, who hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Diwakar was introduced to the sport by his father, Indrajeet, and learned the game at the hockey hostel in Rampur before moving to the KD Singh Babu Hockey hostel in Lucknow, where he fine-tuned his skills. Since then, his career graph has been on the rise. This young man is going in the right direction.