In the 6th Senior National Hockey Championship in April, The Tamil Nadu unit of hockey had to face a critical counterblast from the media and senior players for fielding a very young side. Reportedly, all the boys in the team are in an age group of 20-25. Five months later, the same team of young lads held an experienced Air India side to a 2-2 draw in the opening fixture of the 90th All India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup at Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Thursday.

It isn’t a major victory but the signs of improvement are quite apparent. Most of these boys aren’t professional players and had not been under any guidance whatsoever up until now, these boys have returned the faith shown in them by the coaches as well as the selectors.

 The coaching staff even voiced ambitions of contributing at least a player or two to represent the national team in Tokyo 2020. “The current batch has been training together for the last nine months. The boys have been following a strict routine throughout the year. Most of them are still representing their colleges or universities. While they are away, they work with our team over phone,” Rajkumar added.

Whether or not the hardwork and determination of boys to achieve more will bear fruits, only time will tell. But for the now the future seems bright for Tamil Nadu as far as the game of hockey is concerned.