He is tall and robust. He is the young hockey goalkeeper Chinthakunta Santosh Kumar, who is fast climbing the ladder with some commendable performances in the junior category. The city boy, a B.Com student at Bhavan’s Vidyalayam, was a member of the Indian junior hockey team that played in Australia and Argentina recently.
Santosh Kumar is following in the footsteps of another City lad, Aloysius Edwards, who went on to become a fine goalkeeper for India, representing the country in the Olympics and World Cups. The Atlanta Olympian is naturally delighted that another goalkeeper from the City is making the grade. ``Watch out for this guy. He looks to be very sound in technique and sincere student of the game. He is a good learner.
He has the height and agility to come good in big matches. I think he has a good chance to make it to the Indian senior team if he keeps his head cool,’’ says Edwards, who donned the Indian colours with distinction in the eighties and nineties.
For Santosh Kumar, ever since he set his sights on goalkeeping, he has not looked back. It all started in tenth class when his physical director Kamalakar of Parsi School in Secunderabad encouraged him to take to goalkeeping. ``Somehow, I took to the game immediately,’’ said Santosh, who soon played for Rising Stars and then Hyderabad team in the sub-junior nationals.
He was solid under the bar, impressing the selectors with his dare-diving saves.
With sport in his blood, his brother Vijay Kumar, a national bantamweight boxer, Santosh began to excel for Hyderabad in the all India tournaments. ``It was the encouragement of Madhukar and Kanthaiah that allowed me to perform better,’’ said Santosh. He attended the junior Asia Camp held at Gachibowli in February 2008 before he finally made it to the Indian team for the tour of Argentina in November last.
Although not a glamourous event, Santosh said he always loved the game because it is fast and enterprising. ``It is a big challenge as a goalkeeper. The pressure is always there on you. It’s important to be cool and alert,’’ said Santosh, who practices yoga and does intensive training. He does watch a lot of video analyses, particularly the movements of eminent goalkeepers. ``The penalty strokes and penalty corners are always a dangerous situations for goalkeepers.
In penalty strokes, is always 80 percent luck,’’ said Santosh.