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Flick it like Gurukul
Haridwar, December 29 The historic feat of becoming the national champions was achieved by the Gurukul team at the local Dayanand Hockey Stadium here on Sunday. And the man who turned the team into champions was coach Dhirendra Chauhan. After the victory the players were seen touching the feet of their coach as a mark of acknowledgement of his immense contribution towards their triumph. Although coach for four years, Chauhan gave rigorous training to his players in the past six months and the hard work bore fruit. “It’s a dream come true” said Dhirendra as he recalled his days as a hockey team member of Jiwaji Gwalior University that won the National University Championship in 2002. Personally, It was a unique distinction for him. From yoga to basic drill to video analysis of opponents’ moves and tips from former Olympians, everything was part of Dhirendra’s strategy as he set his mind to making the Gurukul Kangri team a champion. The daily seven-hour practice session was adhered to without exception. It was sheer hard labour that brought the team the laurels. A lot went behind the scenes to turn the players from the ordinary to the best. The process began four years back when in 2005-06 the university team qualified for the North Zone round for the first time. Thereon, the team management decided to select a team that would be trained for the national championship. “That was the time when we first realised that if we nurture the players and give them exposure and technical assistance we can achieve more,” said Dr RS Dagar, head of the physical education and sports department. It was a tough task ahead considering the fact that infrastructure was insufficient.The biggest hurdle was the lack of self-belief in players that they could emerge winners at the highest level. “During 2004-05 when we first started building the team, comments by Australian hockey legend Rick Charlesworth that the Indian team needs young, agile, athletic players to match the high-paced hockey of other teams, caught my attention. So did Greg Chappel’s remarks on cricket which ran in a similar vein. “These observations gave me the clue and I picked young, agile all-rounders, most of them first-year students, and moulded them into the players that they have become today,” said a very proud Chauhan. The Gurukul team throughout the nationals exhibited an extraordinary fitness level. Also, it had no dearth of strategies for every match and every situation. If a plan failed, the team came up with a second plan that was already discussed at team meetings. In every game, the team marked the key player of the opposition. Whether in the finals against Panjab University, Chandigarh, or in the league phase against the Bangaloreans, the strategy was executed with perfection. This stumped other teams, who primarily relied on one or two key players. At times when the opposing teams resorted to a counter-attack, Gurukul bolstered their defence and took refuge in long passes to minimise advantage gained by the opposition and slowed down the game. In the finals against Chandigarh, knowing the athletic build up of its 6 feet plus opposition players, Gurukul players relied on their dribbling skills and one-to-one passes which eventually exhausted Panjab players. Sachin, considered by many as the best centre half in the championship, said: “We worked in tandem and if there was attack on our defences, we ran to counter it and worked with forwards to score goals as much as we could.” The training schedule was devised by Chauhan who divided the regime into three phases. The first phase started in the morning for two hours. The stress was on physical fitness. In the second phase, the technical aspect was given preference while the evening session was more about the tactical aspect. Thus, all three aspects-physical, technical and tactical were covered. Ajay Malik, manager of the team, said: “Though the team merely got Rs 55 per day per player as diet money, yet the players never complained as their sole motive was to defy the myth that Gurukulians are the best only in Vedic studies and yoga.” The team got much support from VC Prof Swatantra Kumar who, apart from monetary rewards, personally visited their training camps and lay stress on yoga which ultimately proved handy in crunch situations. Where other teams lost control, the Gurukul boys remained calm and focused. Now the team’s mission is Australia as the International Hockey Universiad will be held there and seven members of the winning Gurukul team have been selected for the national university team representing India. The coach has already started preparations holding consultations with international players like Devesh Chauhan and Dhanraj Pillay for their expertise and knowledge of Australian
conditions. “The Gurukul hockey team was founded in 1963 and in our first match, we lost by a huge margin. That defeat haunted me, but with this win by Gurukul the pain of 45 long years has been wiped out,” said an emotional Raj Narayan Tyagi, the then team captain and treasurer of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA). The rise of the Gurukul hockey team has been meteoric. This augurs well for the Indian hockey. With eyes now on Australian tour, team captain Dushyant Rana says: “In Chak De the Indian hockey team goes to Australia and wins, now it’s our turn.” Hope reel life replicates real life. Chak De Gurukul!
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U’khand cricket
on bad wicket
Mussoorie, December 29 The chances seem remote considering the lacklustre attitude of sports authorities and the infighting among local cricket associations. Uttarakhand is currently not affiliated with the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and hence the state has no representation in major domestic tournaments. This means that talented players from Uttarakhand are not getting any opportunity to play at the state level. While the BCCI has granted affiliate memberships to states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal and associate memberships to Chhattisgarh and Bihar, Uttarakhand is still not on their priority list. According to sources, infighting among state cricket associations seems to be a major factor behind the delay in getting BCCI membership. There are four cricket associations from Uttarakhand competing to get BCCI associate membership and therefore the BCCI has not been able to take a decision. This has not augured well for young aspiring cricketers from Uttarakhand who fail to get adequate opportunities. According to Ajay Mark, head of physical education at Woodstock School at Mussoorie, “There is so much cricket talent in places like Mussoorie but that is currently going unnoticed.” Ajay, who has been a cricketer himself, believes that Uttarakhand has the potential to produce quality cricketers. “Uttarakhand can produce good cricketers provided proper nurturing and adequate opportunities are provided to budding talent,” Ajay said. JS Gunsola, president of District Cricket Association and MLA from Mussoorie area, also expressed his concern. “It is necessary that the young talent from our state should get sufficient opportunities to represent the state and the country.” Instead of getting direct affiliation with the BCCI, Uttarakhand is attached with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA). Consequently, cricketers from Uttarakhand can play at the state level only in the Uttar Pradesh team. Due to intense competition and high costs, only a handful have been selected in the UP team while many have given up the dreams of becoming a cricketer. According to PC Verma, president of Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, “There is intense competition in the UP team and only a few of our players get the opportunity to play for Uttar Pradesh.” Lack of affiliation with the BCCI has meant that a large number of cricketers have either given up on cricket or have given up on Uttarakhand. While players like Raj Singh and Vikrant Joshi have managed to get into UP under-22 and Ranji teams, others like Abhishek Raman (West Bengal u-16), Abhimanyu (West Bengal u-16), Sunny Rana (Himachal Pradesh u-19) have been forced to play for other states. According to Gunsola, a sub-committee has been formed under the working committee of the BCCI to give its recommendations regarding the affiliation of Uttarakhand to the BCCI. “I am hopeful that Uttarakhand would soon have its team in the Ranji trophy and other major cricket tournaments,” Gunsola said. As Mussoorie offers England-like conditions, experts believe that the town could be an ideal place for cricket training because of its climate. As the ball swings appreciably in these conditions, Mussoorie could become an important place for Test cricketers to get some useful
practice. “As a bowler, I used to get the ball to move both ways,” says Ajay Mark. According to PC Verma, “Sunil Gavaskar had once suggested to me that a cricket stadium in Mussoorie could be a good place to practice under swinging conditions.” However, due to the absence of a proper cricket ground here, these unique conditions have not been exploited.
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Muted celebrations this time
Mussoorie, December 29 Rakesh Mathur, president of the Mussoorie Hotels Association (MHA), said: “Most hotels in the town have decided to hold simple programmes catering to hotel guests only.” Mathur explained that although the association had not issued any formal directive, “the hoteliers have on their own decided to refrain from pomp and show in respect for the victims of Mumbai terrorist attacks.” Anil Sharma, resident manager of Jaypee Residency, said there their hotel was not having any special programmes this year. “We will have a dinner programme for hotel guests but will not organise special programmes or entertain outside guests.” “All hotels of the Jaypee group have decided not to have any special New Year celebrations ,” Sharma said. Shaillendra Karanwal, owner of Nand Residency Hotel, says Mussoorie will be much quieter this New Year’s Eve. “Most hotels are organising programmes only for in-house guests and there will be no formal celebrations,” Karanwal said. Restaurants in the town have also decided to tone down celebrations. “Usually we organise a dance night or a DJ night but this year we will have a very simple programme comprising dinner and light music,” said Rajat Kapoor, owner of The Tavern. However, notwithstanding the scale of celebrations, Mussoorie is expecting a large tourist turnout with a number of hotels already having received advance bookings. “There has certainly been a negative impact on tourism due to the teror attacks and global recession, but it is not all that much,” said Karanwal.
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e-Cards are passe
Dehradun, December 29 “Available in different varieties, cards with sceneries, flowers, cartoons and lovely quotations are enough to convey your feelings,” opined Abhinav Kapoor, a teenager. Ravi Sharma, who runs a gift shop on Rajpur Road, said, “Despite the new trend of sending e-cards, the sale of cards has increased this time. The card market is earning huge profits.” A visit to the market revealed that Archies, Art Home, Centiments and other leading shops of the city are offering a variety of cards at various prices. Shilpi Arora of Art Home said although e-cards have provided another option to people, but there’s no match to traditional cards, which are available in a wide variety of colours, patterns and designs. Other shopkeepers said the craze for cards has once again witnessed an upward swing and with the New Year just two days away, the sale is at its peak. Meanwhile, it’s not only cards that are selling like hot cakes: other items are doing brisk business as well. “Chocolates, toys, crystal ware, crockery etc are in high demand,” said Rajni, owner of a gift shop on Chakrata Road. On the other hand, hoteliers in Dehradun have decided to keep the New Year a low-key affair keeping in mind the Mumbai terror attacks. Majority of the hoteliers opined that it is “insensitive” to have a New Year bash this time.
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Dog Show
Dehradun, December 29 The dog show organised by the Doon Valley Kennel Club was a great success and saw the participation of more than 4,000 visitors. “There was an overwhelming response to our show this time,” said Aachal Chaudhary, a dog show committee member. For a good 10 hours, various dogs entertained the crowd. “As I don’t get to see such a large variety of dogs at one go, I clicked their pictures so that I can show them to my family,” said Swati, a college student.
“Although I can’t afford such expensive dogs, I was happy to see them perform at the show,” said Vishnu, a taxi driver. “We are satisfied with this year’s response and we look forward to the next year’s show,” added Aachal Chaudhary.
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