ROURKELA: It's 8.00 AM. There's roughly 11 hours to go before pushback for India's opening World Cup match against Spain. The fog has started to lift but the cold winter air is lingering. The city is on the verge of realising a life-long dream of witnessing a hockey World Cup in their backyard. Come 5.00 PM, the match between England and Wales will propel this mineral-rich, hockey-crazy city of roughly six lakh inhabitants into a select club of cities to have hosted a men's World Cup (14 if you are wondering).
But that can wait. At 8.00 AM, the region's finest hockey disciples are in a training session in one of the sport's most famous temples, Panposh Sports Hostel. Situated by the Koel River, one of the main water bodies in this part of the region, the hostel has left its mark on hockey royalty including the likes of Dilip Tirkey, the current Hockey India president. So, it's not a surprise to know why this hostel has a stature attached to it (many of India's World Cup and Olympics teams have had at least one player who have called this as an alma mater).
It explains why Samit Barwa, a teenager who's training at the hostel, says 'it was a dream of mine' to train here. One day, Barwa, who hails from Chhend, a neighbourhood in the city, hopes to wear an Indian jersey. On Friday, though, he has a different short-term goal. While Barua is excited to watch the India versus Spain game from the Birsa Munda Stadium (all the 180 students were offered tickets for the match), his task is to take down notes of the game. "My coach has asked me to take a note and pen to jot down my observations so I will be doing that," he says, with a shyness that's hard to miss.
He truly comes alive when he's freestyling. He's known for lifting the ball — a form of 3D skill — and when he displays it in front of his teammates, you can see why he likes 'lifting the ball'. Apart from playing for the national team, he hopes to emulate idol Amit Rohidas (the current India vice-captain also came through this hostel), who enjoys a sort of cult personality in these parts. "He came from so little and look at him now. He's the man (for me)," Barwa, who's a midfielder, says.
Like some of the other parts of the city, the hostel too has got a fresh coat of paint. Two sparkling blue FIH-approved astroturfs were used for sessions for the first time on Monday -- a worn-down green astroturf was in business before it was replaced -- to the delight of the trainees.
Jothikumari Toppo, another of the trainees at the hostel, says her dream is to emulate Vandana Katariya by featuring at the Olympics. "I like Vandana," the 22-year-old forward who has been to the junior India camp in Bengaluru, smiles. "I want to ultimately play at the Olympics. But then for every Toppo and Barwa, there are others who may never even have the opportunity to realise their childhood sporting dreams. For every kid who currently calls this hostel home, there have been countless many who have fallen through because of a want of the required talent to keep performing at this level.
"There is a weeding process in place," Lazarus Barla, one of the coaches at the hostel, explains. "The ones who don't perform lose their place and those slots are taken by the players who come in and this cycle continues." Barla, a former India player and very much of this parish, beams with pride when the conversation shifts to the big event. "Didn't expect this, we are living a dream," he says. "A place like Rourkela getting a Stadium like this."
In the stands on Friday night, both Toppo and Barwa will dream again of wearing the India jersey when they see the Indian team. On the field, 18 Indian players will start their own campaign towards realising the dream of winning the World Cup.
Results
Pool A: Argentina 1-0 South Africa, Australia 8-0 France.
Matches today:
Pool C: Malaysia vs Chile 1.00 PM, New Zealand vs Netherlands 3.00 PM (both in Rourkela).
Pool B: Belgium vs South Korea (5.00 PM), Germany vs Japan (7.00 PM) (both in Bhubaneswar).