Team Mangalorean - Madikeri
from Ashwini Appaiah
with Vartha pics

Madikeri: The three young hockey stars from Kodagu, who were instrumental in the Indian team's winning the pre-Olympic qualifier held recently in Delhi were felicitated here and other places of the district on Monday, March 5.

As V Raghunath,  Sunil and Uthappa arrived at the General Timmaya circle, they were welcomed with traditional honours on behalf of the district administration by tahsildar Babu Ravindranath Patel,  department of youth and sports services director B Gayatri, district information officer Vinod Chandra, youth federation vice president Joyappa and other office-bearers. 

A formal reception was accorded in Cauvery Kala Kshetra on behalf of the Kodagu Hockey Association.

Profiles (from different sources)

Raghunath came into national limelight when was selected for the 2006 Senior World Cup when Sandeep Singh was accidentally injured in the run-up to the tournament. He was played by the coach V Baskaran in the later part of the world cup, where he did a decent job despite being a colt in the company of the world's best.

Raghunath's first foray into the national side was the Sub-Junior Asia Cup, Dhaka, which India won. He made his senior international debut against Pakistan in the bi-lateral series in 2005.

Sanur Vittalacharya Sunil  played most of senior the tournaments in 2007 and 2008 as a defender in place of Sandeep Singh.  He was also in form in the Australian tour 2001 recently. In a one2one situation with NZ goalkeeper, SV Sunil scored the tournament's beautiful goal in Western Australia. Sunil's return to mainstream is good sign, as he was nurturing an injury for long time.

Talented forward Sunil's hockey career came to a halt when he was injured in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup. With patience, he continued in the rehabilitation program, and made a mark in the selection trials held recently. His name is now in the short-listed 45 probables list.

Hardly does one find such a brave heart in sports as is the case with SV Sunil. Despite his father's death, he did not miss the Azlan Shah Cup duty in 2010, returned with gold.

S V Sunil is a talented forward. Blessed with an athletic body, he sets up goals for others, besides also scoring when in opportune moments.

He played his first senior international at Chennai in the 2007 Asia Cup, which India won in 2007. He also won a Silver at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.

After 13 long years, the Indian Hockey team won the coveted Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia in 2010. However, Sunil, the player from Kodagu in the Sandeep Singh-led team has dedicated the historical victory to his father.

Just three days after Sunil left for Malaysia to participate in the tournament, his father Vittalacharya reportedly passed away in Kodagu succumbing to respiratory problems.

Sunil received the tragic news through telephone. Already playing in the tourney, he was in a fix whether to rush back to India to participate in the last rites of his father or continue playing.

Several players along with the team coach were learnt to have advised Sunil to get back to India. Initially, Sunil too felt he should return and pay his last respects to his dad. On a second thought, he strengthened his mind and preferred to play for the country and thus fulfill his father's ambition.

Sunil's father Vittalacharya had given him a lot of encouragement to play hockey. Playing the game and winning the trophy was paying a tribute to him, he thought.

That was the most difficult decision he took in my life. His father always wanted him to play for the country. To fulfil his father's long-cherished dream,  he decided to stay back in Malaysia.

The Acharya family basically hailed from Sanur in undivided Dakshina Kannada district and had settled down in Somwarpet, Kodagu 40 years ago.  Vittalacharya was a wood artist and Sunil’s brother is a goldsmith.

Sannuvanda Kushalappa Uthappa picked up the sport as a profession at the age of 14 after growing up watching his brother play hockey for Bangalore University. He moved to Bangalore later to continue his passion at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center there.

Uthappa was a product of the National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) scheme at SJIHS. He joined SAI and ever since has excelled as a player both for his college St Joseph's College of Commerce and Bangalore University. His performance did not go unnoticed and soon he was playing for the state, Prabhakar, who heads the SAI training centre at the hockey stadium in Akkithimmanahalli.

In 2010 he led Karnataka to Junior Nationals title victory in Pune, defeating hockey powerhouse Punjab in the final. He was adjudged the best player in the 2011 Senior National championship in Bhopal where Karnataka finished runners-up. But a slot in the team wasn't that easy. A groin injury in the first camp put paid to his hopes. He couldn't make an impact at the camp till December before a steady performance in his debut in the recent test series against South Africa in Delhi finally clinched the issue.
His body feint is admirable.

Uthappa made his international debut against South Africa on January 16, 2012 during the first match of the Karbonn Cup Hockey five-match test series. He scored a goal in his debut match at the 53rd minute mark. In that series, he featured in 4 matches, winning three, drawing one and scoring 3 goals in the process. He was also given a special award from Hockey India for scoring in his debut match.

Based on his performances against South Africa, Uthappa was selected to play in the 2012 Olympic Qualification Tournament. He went on to play in all 6 matches (5 group and 1 Finals) in the tournament scoring one goal in the first match against Singapore. 

Related reading:

• Mangalore: Vijaynath Shetty, Dhanraj Pillay Concur on Need of a Hockey Academy in City