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Olympian Devindar Walmiki, 32, who is leading the Maharashtra team at the 14th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship that got underway at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai on Monday, is confident of a historic podium finish.
Thirty-one teams have been divided into eight pools with each pool topper qualifying for the quarters (Nov 13), followed by the semis (Nov 15) and final (Nov 16).
Maharashtra are in Pool G alongside Hockey Jharkhand, Goans Hockey and Hockey Gujarat while defending champions Hockey Punjab are in Pool A and last year’s runner-up Haryana in Pool B.
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Skipper Devindar Walmiki
Youth and experience
Walmiki believes the state outfit is a good mix of youth and talent. “Maharashtra has never won a medal at the Sr Nationals before, but this time we can. We have India players like goalkeeper Suraj [Karkera] and young forward Aditya Lalage, who made his debut in the Test series against Germany recently. We also have defenders Amit Gowda and Tyronne Pereira, who have a wealth of domestic experience. We had a two-week training camp at Pune where the boys aced the Yo-Yo fitness test as well as hockey drills,” Walmiki told mid-day.
The tournament is also key for Walmiki, who was picked by Hyderabad Toofans for the upcoming (Dec 28 to Feb 1) Hockey India League (HIL) for just R8 lakh, while many other lesser experienced players bagged higher amounts. “I missed the last edition of the Sr Nationals as I was playing in the European league, but the year before that [2022], I had led Maharashtra to the bronze medal at the National Games. This time there is the added motivation of the Hockey India League, so I’m sure every player, who has been picked, will be keen to justify their price tag to their franchises,” concluded Walmiki.
Yuvraj opts out
Walmiki’s elder brother and veteran forward Yuvraj, who was shockingly not picked at the HIL auction despite scoring a barrage of goals in domestic tournaments and leading Railways to the National title, has decided to skip this Sr National Championship. He will be travelling to play in the Hong Kong League next week.
Maharashtra will take on Hockey Gujarat (Nov 6) followed by Hockey Jharkhand (Nov 8) and Goans Hockey (Nov 10). The coach is Sagar Singh Thakur and team manager is Vikram Pillay.
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