Lucknow: Hockey legends drub rookies, to help hone talent

By: Vedanta Agarwal
LUCKNOW: The Lucknow University campus on Monday witnessed international Indian hockey veterans, including Olympians, displaying their skills in the past versus present students match organised as part of the ongoing centenary celebrations.
As expected, veterans won the match but present students got an invaluable reward at the end when Ravindra Pal, a member of the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning Indian team, announced to support and nurture budding sports talent of the university.
Besides Ravindra Pal, the alumni team comprised Olympian Sujit Kumar and Rajneesh Mishra, Devendra Dhyanchand (son of hockey wizard Major Dhyanchand) and Mukul Shah who have represented India in several tournaments at the international level.
All these players are LU alumni and have done their graduation from the university or its associated colleges. Among the audience were former Indian Hockey team goalkeeper Ranjan Negi and player Usman Rizvi.
As hockey as a sport has not been promoted much in LU, the students’ team had both boys and girls who were enthusiastic about the sport and had the desire to play at national and international levels. LU is also making efforts to appoint a full-time hockey coach and provide facilities to students interested in the sport.
After the match, Ravindra Pal announced “I see great potential in today’s students and am willing to coach and help them realise their goals.”
“I feel it is our responsibility to nurture these students with appropriate resources and ensure that their talent does not go waste,” Mukul Shah said.
An interactive session between past and present students was also organised in which young players got tips on the techniques of the sport and importance of team spirit.