Back in the national fold for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, forward SK Uthappa hopes to make it count not only for a berth for Rio, but also to please his mother.

Over the next 10 days, the only significant television activity at the Kushalappa household in Gonikoppal will be the telecast of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament from Ipoh, Malaysia. The younger of the two children, SK Uthappa, finally returns to the national fold after an on-off period of four years of injury and dip in form. The forward had always assured his mother, Neelamma, that he would be back. He hopes to make it with a bang.

“That period was bad,” Uthappa said. “I was dropped because of injury and many people in Coorg would ask my mother whether I will be the same again. But my mom always supported and believed in me throughout. Still, I asked her not to share any news about me — good or bad. If I am disappointed about the bad things said about me, then I don’t want to hear to the good things either. My seniors also told me that bad press will do nothing to help me improve my game. It’s best to ignore it and concentrate on the game.”

The Azlan Shah Cup, the premier eight-team tournament which begins on Wednesday, provides Uthappa, who was part of the 2012 Olympics team, with a fine opportunity to impress coach Roelant Oltmans and silence his critics once and for all. “Good teams play in that (tournament) and the expectations are high,” he said. “When I was picked, I was obviously happy. I knew I would get in because I was playing well. I want to focus on the task given to me and do it well. We are trying something new in this tournament after the long national camp.”

Bangalore days

Adversity is no strange bedfellow for Uthappa. When he was 13 years, he was admitted to the hostel at St Joseph’s Indian High School. Uthappa was immediately homesick and he cried for six months straight. “In my batch, there were two others from Coorg – Rathan and Chandappa — but hostel was bad for me,” Uthappa said. “I joined the St Joseph’s Indian High School only for hockey. Manohar Katigge, the coach there spotted me when I was playing state junior hockey in Davangere. We had defeated his team (from Bengaluru) and he wanted me here. My mother initially said no, but he kept calling for three months. Till then I was happy at home, doing nothing. But he managed to convince my mother.

“When I came here, I was fussy even about the little things. I cried because I had to bathe in cold water and I wasn’t used to it. Then, I had to wash my own clothes. I wanted to chuck it all and go back home. It was tough, but it taught me everything. Had I gone back, who knows what I would be doing now.”

What helped was the empathy of the school authorities. “I am thankful to Father Henry Saldanha, the principal, and hostel warden, Vincent Paul. I often got special permission and they treated me kindly. There’s a limit for the phone call I can make from the landline. Whenever I was on call, nobody else would get a chance. But the warden used to say ‘It’s okay. Let him do it’. Parent visits was also limited to once a month. But my mother, father and brother visited me almost every week. The warden and principal were patient with me. They assured me I would adjust very soon.”

Fighting fear

Uthappa took up hockey seriously after watching his brother play for Bangalore University. Chinnappa, who played with VR Raghunath (India drag-flicker) in the nationals, is now in the merchant navy and Uthappa, who was a ‘jack of all sports’, became an international. When he finally made his debut under coach Michael Nobbs during the India-South Africa Test series in 2012, Uthappa admitted to nervousness. “Ignace Turkey, senior player of the team, told me it was evident from my face that I was nervous,” Uthappa said. “He only asked me to play the first pass confidently. He said receive the ball neatly and roll it to the midfielder next to you. I still remember that I had passed it to the current assistant coach, Tushar Khandekar. I even managed to score on debut and received an award for it. Shivendra Singh, a forward in the team, teased me saying that he should receive half the money for providing the assist.”

The open jeep parade back home followed. Recognition by fans and requests for selfies became a norm. A good performance for his team Sannuvanda in the Kodagu Hockey Festival even took the side to the pre-quarterfinals for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1997. But Uthappa is not content with just that. For him, a good show in Malaysia will complete his fight with himself and also see his rise as a mature player. However, the Rio Olympics isn’t his only incentive to do well. Mom too will be watching.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Sports> Others / by Aravind Suchindran, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / April 05th, 2016