Gursahibjit’s wonder year earns him India colours

Indervir Grewal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 25 

Gursahibjit Singh was “happy” just to be named among the standbys for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He called his father, Mohinder Singh, and his coach at the Surjit Academy, Avtar Singh, to share the news.

The 20-year-old’s excitement was understandable — for someone who played his first major tournament for the junior national team only five months ago, just being considered for the senior team was big news. It was big news for the family as well. Gursahibjit, who hails from village Bahadurpur Rajoa in Gurdaspur district, doesn’t come from a hockey family. One of his relatives played hockey, but the popularity of the sport in the region also played a part in Gursahibjit taking up the sport. “We just thought hockey would be good for him,” said Mohinder, who works for Punjab Police.

Gursahibjit was sent to Cheema Hockey Academy in Batala, over 30 kilometres from his village, at age nine. “Staying in the hostel was tough for him but it got better once his interest in hockey grew,” said Mohinder.

National camps

After two years, he got selected in Surjit Academy, Jalandhar. Though studying in DAV College now, Gursahibjit still trains at the academy when not in national camps.

“His development over the last couple of years has been great,” said Avtar. “He has a good physique, he is an all-round player like Dilpreet (Singh). Being in the national camps has helped him a lot.”

Gursahibjit benefitted from a month-long camp in the run-up to Azlan Shah Cup. While the team left for Malaysia, Gursahibjit was happy to continue training with the senior core group in Bengaluru. Even to be in the senior camp was a big deal — a year ago, he couldn’t even make the cut for the junior national camp. At the start of 2018, while Dilpreet, one of his contemporaries from the academy, was making a name for himself in the senior national team, Gursahibjit was still fighting for a place in the junior Punjab team.

The same month that Dilpreet travelled to Australia for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gursahibjit was selected in the Punjab team for the junior Nationals in Bhopal. The young forward made his opportunity count and went on to score a hat-trick in the final, which Punjab won 4-2. His performance didn’t go unnoticed and Gursahibjit was selected for the junior national camp for the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia in October. At his first major international tournament, Gursahibjit stood out with his big presence in the Indian forward-line. The promotion to senior hockey came in February, when he was selected in the Punjab team for the senior Nationals. He played alongside India stalwarts Akashdeep Singh and Manpreet Singh, among others. Punjab reached the final and Gursahibjit found his name in the senior national camp.

Good beginning

Hard work and a little luck — injuries to a few senior players — saw Gursahibjit’s exceptional journey over the last 10 months culminate with his name being included in the list of standbys. “He was very happy. It was his first senior national camp and to be named as a standby is a big deal,” said Mohinder.

A day after the team left for Malaysia, the deal got even bigger for Gursahibjit. Gurjant Singh got injured in training and the next thing Gursahibjit knew, he was flying off to Malaysia.

Gursahibjit’s big moment — senior India debut — came on Saturday, but not without a few words of advice from his coach. “The shift from junior to senior hockey is tough and his has been pretty quick,” said Avtar. “I told him to be open with the players and the team management, I told him: ‘This is your first senior tournament and if you don’t understand anything, ask; have discussions with the senior players and the coach; ask what they want from you’,” Avtar added.

It turned out to be a happy beginning for Gursahibjit — India beat reigning Asian Games champions Japan 2-0 in their first game. Avtar said that Gursahibjit, the latest player from Punjab to make India debut, was a good prospect for the future. “He needs exposure and this tournament will help him a lot. If he has a good tournament, he can go a long way playing for India,” said Avtar.

India take on hosts Malaysia 

• Ipoh: Conceding last-minute goals has continued to haunt India for long now and that’s precisely what the world No. 5 would look to avoid when they take on Malaysia in their third match of the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here tomorrow.