CHENNAI: On the opening day of the Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, a 17-year-old Sunny Malik was the star performer in his first game for Indian Navy, as his team defeated Chennai Hockey Association 3-2 in a clash of debutants. Sunny is no ordinary teenager. Hailing from Pilana, a village in Haryana, he has made rapid strides since taking up the game when he was 11. He represented India at the 2016 U-18 Asia Cup and secured a job with Indian Navy.
He is one of their youngest recruits, having drawn attention while playing for Indian Oil in the Bengaluru Super Division league. Having impressed in the levels he has played in so far, Sunny is eager to play for the senior national team. “With the experience of junior Asia Cup, tournaments such as these seem to be a little easy.
I want to perform well and get a place in the Indian team.” Hockey runs in the family. Sunny’s father Sumer Singh was a goalkeeper at the state level. “My inspiration has been my father. I saw him and learnt to play the sport but he never forced me to take it up. We are not very well off financially, just a working middle-class family dependent on salary.”
His father works as a security supervisor in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). He too got the job through sports quota. Sunny seems to be doing well considering his age. Indian Navy has recruited him as a Rank Petty Officer with a salary of `35,000. “They saw my performance at the Bengaluru league last month. They contacted me and offered a job with good salary. Being from a middle-class family, what more can we ask for than a decent income.” Before this, he used to get a monthly stipend of `12,000 from Indian Oil.
Happy with his team’s performance in the first match, Indian Navy coach Ajay Kumar picked Sunny for special praise. “CHA put up a good fight, but our players succeeded in putting them under pressure. Players like Sunny and Jugraj Singh helped the team maintain control. After this match, I feel we made a good choice by recruiting Sunny,” he said.
Railways post win
Indian Railways defeated Mumbai Hockey Association 2-1 in a Pool A game in the 92nd All-India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament on Thursday. Railways scored through Kunwar Dilraj Singh and Ajmer Singh. Mumbai’s lone goal came from captain Victo Singh’s stick. nithin.k@newindianexpress.com