The Hindu : President all praise for Indian team

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 12, 2003

Sport

Sport - Hockey

President all praise for Indian team

The President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with members of the Indian hockey team and officials, who called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday.

New Delhi July 11. The Indian hockey team today got a big vote of confidence from none other than the President of the country himself with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam saying he was very hopeful the team would win a medal in the Athens Olympics next year.

For the first time in five years, a Head of State interacted freely with the hockey team and his morale-boosting words had an immediate effect on the players who promised him that they would do their best.

``The way they look, the way they speak, the way they won two tournaments, the way they talked to me, they should win an Olympic medal,'' Mr. Kalam said.

Mixing freely in his inimitable style, Mr. Kalam struck an immediate rapport with the team members who were overwhelmed by the President's gesture to ask each one of them to share their feelings.

``Hockey is a very famous game. In the last decade it has declined but this team is taking it up in a big way,'' Mr. Kalam, dressed in a beige suit, said.

Captain Dhanraj Pillay responded to the faith shown in the hockey team by the President saying, ``I am overwhelmed. What else can I say if the country's President is hoping for a medal from us. It is a big morale-booster.''

Pillay said this time he was really charged up for the upcoming Champions Trophy and the Athens Olympics because he had a very good team.

All the players that were part of the double-leg Australian tournament and the Germany outing were sporting Sahara colours and looked in buoyant mood.

Accompanying the team were the Sports Minister, Vikram Verma, the Minister of State for Sports, Vijay Goel, the Indian Hockey Federation President, K.P.S. Gill, the IHF Secretary, K. Jothikumaran, besides coach Rajinder Singh.

Pillay drew the attention of the President to the fact that the country had very few synthetic turfs with floodlights. ``When we go abroad we have to play under floodlights. We must have at least four such facilities in each State so that we can get enough practice of playing under these conditions,'' the 35-year-old mercurial striker said. — PTI

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