Youth India Hockey team defender and drag-flicker Jugraj Singh is happy that a healthy rivalry between him, Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar is taking shape, which bodes well for the country as it hosts some of the top tournaments, including the FIH. World Cup in Odisha early next year.
“We have some of the best drag-flickers in the team right now, Harmanpreet (Singh), Varun (Kumar) and I. We always push each other to do better and that makes us change matches as a team. That comes in. Comes in handy in tough situations, especially when hockey teams scout properly to understand each team’s drag-flick routine. So, we practice variations to make sure May the opposition struggle to read our routine,” 25-year-old Jugraj said on Hockey India’s podcast series ‘Hockey Te Charcha’ on Saturday.
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Speaking about his humble origins and the adversities he had to overcome to reach the top, Jugraj, who was part of the second-place finish campaign at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, said, “I started playing at Atari when I was inside. third grade. I moved to Delhi for four years soon after college to play for the Punjab National Bank Hockey Academy, which gave me my first start. It was in the PNB team that I started playing competitive tournaments, where I was noticed by the Navy Hockey team, who offered me a spot in their senior squad after winning a silver in the national tournament.
“After which I was eagerly waiting for that one chance to play in the senior Indian hockey team. I worked very hard to prepare myself for that opportunity and finally got selected in the senior Indian team which was a very proud moment for me,” said Jugraj.
He said, “I must fight with all my will to achieve whatever they want in life, and that’s what I did. I never gave up fighting and never gave up which resulted in me getting the one opportunity I wanted to myself.” needed to be proved.”
The 25-year-old, who made his Indian debut in the FIH Pro League 2021-22, spoke about his humble origins, the sacrifices of his father working as a Seema coolie at the Wagah border, and overcoming those adversities. ,
“As a family we didn’t have a lot of money; My father was the only one who earned in childhood. As a child, I and I used to go to the Wagah border to help my father, where we used to sell water bottles, snacks, etc. to the tourists accompanying him. Sometimes our financial condition became so bad that we had to eat the same food every day for a week. I will be eternally grateful to my father, who sacrificed so much to ensure that we go to school, no matter what. He always encouraged me to play hockey because he realized that I had talent.
“Overcoming those adversities as a kid really helped me grow and develop as a person and I understood the importance of hockey and how it changed not only my life but the lives of the people in my family. could. It is because of my father that I recognized the value of hard work and earned things for myself that helped me overcome financial and personal adversities and made me a better player. Now I have everything I wanted as a kid and it’s all thanks to hockey which helped me change my life. ,
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