Bharat Chetri is a goalkeeper in waiting. He is noted for his diligence and commitment. His value to the teams had already been established to a reasonable extent at the second string and junior levels. It’s only matter of time before the gifted goalie burst on to a bigger stage. One of the five sons of an Army personnel, Chetri was born on December 15, 1981. He learnt the nuances of hockey at the Danapur Army School, before joining the Sports Authority of India’s Centre of Excellence, Bangalore in 1998.

He represented Bihar in the Hyderabad Senior National Championship and Karnataka in the Bangalore Junior Nationals. He was adjudged the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ of the Bangalore meet. Before making his senior debut in the Dhaka Prime Minister Gold Cup in 2001, he had played in the Kuala Lumpur Junior Asia Cup, Four-Nation Challenge Cup in Poland, besides the third Akhbar el Yom Cup in Cairo, Egypt. India won either gold or silver in all these engagements. He went as deputy to Devesh Chauhan to Hobart and did exceedingly well whenever called for duty.