‘Will make full use of training’

Having made the cut for Indian hockey’s final Olympics squad, Danish Mujtaba is happy to fulfill his family’s dreams and keen to make optimum use of the remaining days in training.

Coming from a family with a rich hockey background— his elder brother Hamza plays for Indian Oil— Danish admitted on Monday that though he knew he was in with a more than fair chance of getting selected, the very stature of the event meant he was nervous till the squad was officially announced.

“When I first heard about my selection, I was so excited I wanted somebody to give me a warm hug. My first call was to my parents back in Allahabad and my mother Shaheen was overcome with emotions and started crying. So much so that she could hardly speak when I gave her the news,” Danish told The Indian Express from Pune, where the team in undergoing training.

Danish’s uncle Atif Idris, who also represented India at the international level for eight years, was equally overwhelmed at the family tradition being carried forward. Since the players won’t get any time to visit their homes before leaving for the Europe tour, Shaheen will be coming to Delhi to meet Danish before the team’s departure later this month. Hockey is not something alien to the Mujtaba family. Besides Hamza and Atif, Danish’s maternal grandfather, late Idris Ahmed, was also an international hockey player. Danish’s eldest brother Shariq, 30, has played the sport at the inter-varsity level.

About the team’s performance at the recent Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament where India finished with a bronze, Danish said, “By the time we could understand the blue turf there, a couple of matches which we could have won had already slipped away, so winning the bronze was a decent effort. Of course, the confidence levels would have been even higher had we managed to finish on top.”

The 23-year-old forward hoped the team will get used to playing on the blue turf that will be used at the London Olympics soon. “The blue colour was new to the eyes and took some adjusting to. We have played all our hockey on green turf so the more we play on the blue turf the better it will be. In that sense, the Europe tour will be very beneficial apart from providing some good competition to the team,” Danish said.

Asked about India’s chances at the Olympics, Danish said, “The players know each other’s game well and have been playing together for the past eight or nine months. We will go all out at the Olympics. Our first target is to make it to the top six. Once we manage that, we will think about the medal aspect.”

Another player hailing from UP, Tushar Khandker said, “This is a good team. If we manage to continue with the same form, we can do well at the Olympics. Our performance is in our own hands and we will play with all our might.”

About Azlan Shah tournament he said, “We played well and except in the match against New Zealand, the margin of defeat in the games we lost was not high.” Tushar said he was having no problems with the blue turf and said the team will be making full use of the European tour and it will get a chance to learn further before the Olympics.