NEW DELHI, JUNE 28 : Four years ago India won hockey’s Junior World Cup in Hobart thanks in no small way to a youngster who dazzled with his full-blooded drag flicks and daring rushes. Tomorrow, as his compatriots begin their defence of the title in Rotterdam, he will be watching from a room in Minnesota.
Life has certainly turned upside down for Jugraj Singh. He ended that tournament as the second highest scorer, on 7 goals. He has managed to come back within two years of his near-fatal accident — no mean feat in itself — after being written off as a could-have-been superstar in Indian hockey.
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His recent form has suggested a loss of his trademark fiery pace. But Jugraj says that, come August, things will be different. ‘‘I know people feel I can never be back at the peak,’’ he told The Indian Express. ‘‘But if I can come back on field when everyone felt I would remain a cripple all my life, I can also try to get back my fitness.’’
But he admits things have been tough. ‘‘It’s true that having metal plates in your body is no help for a sportsman. But once they are out, it will be much easier to regain fitness.’’
Jugraj will undergo surgery in the first week of July and remain in the US for a month of physiotherapy, returning home in mid-August. ‘‘The physiotherapy will hopefully take care of the stiffness remaining in my arms. With the metal gone, I hope it will be much easier.’’ He also hopes to emulate his hero Lance Armstrong, for his gritty comeback from cancer.
Jugraj may or may not come back to the national squad, given the current spate of unknowns making it. But when the Indians run out in Rotterdam, they would do well to remember the man who first made the drag flick part of modern Indian hockey’s terminology. _________________ http://panthers.sjcricket.org http://www.bayareacricket.org
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