CHENNAI: On Thursday, S Karthi was overcome with nervousness. He was about to step onto the shiny blue astroturf at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium for the first time ever. Wearing India's sky blue, he had already sung the national anthem.
The nervousness was two-pronged — playing in front of a big crowd at home for the first time was one. The bigger reason was his mother, Valarmathi, and father, Selvam, were about to watch him play in the flesh for the first time ever.
"I was a bit nervous," he tells this daily. "Playing in front of a big crowd like this in Tamil Nadu. Have played in front of big crowds elsewhere but first time at home. Once the match began, though, my teammates helped me adjust."
On Sunday, Karthi displayed zero signs of nervousness when he slammed a fierce drive to give the hosts the opener in what turned out to be a one-sided match against Malaysia. The young forward controlled a long diagonal before showing confidence and the ability to hit it past the 'keeper. More established forwards will have been tempted to take a few more touches to set themselves up.
It's the sort of goal that would have pleased coach, Craig Fulton. "Got a really good skill set but it's about how to integrate him in the way we want to play and still use his skill set to, you know, see him bring his strength to the team. He's a goal-scorer," the South African had said of him before the Asian Champions Trophy. Finishing like that is one way of answering the call.
After the match, the 21-year-old said he was happy about the way he finished his chance. "You would have seen me working with the coach before the game, I was practising that exact shot, happy that it came about in the match," he said.
That dedication and work ethic sort of explains Karthi's origin story. Without both of those, this accidental hockey player may have been lost to one of volleyball or football or basketball (his build explains this). "I was in class VI or VII," he says. "Used to play basketball, volleyball, football... didn't know about hockey." He was hooked on it after he saw one of the seniors play.
A change in vocation was seamless after his parents found a hockey player in their family. "A relative of mine had played. So I got him to give his old sticks." Because he was already playing multiple sports, he handled the shift with minimal fuss. A change of scenery ensued as his domestic hockey career began in earnest.
When it really spread its wings for the first time was being the top goal-scorer at a national level age-group event. A call-up to one of the age-group India sides followed. Just when it seemed he was set to take off, Covid-19 wrecked his plans in multiple ways. "There was a lack of tournaments, that was one. The main thing was there were some difficulties so I went back to support my family in Ariyalur.
"During that time, I did have many restless days and nights, worrying about whether I would be able to make the cut again. I knew I would be able to go to the junior national camp but I didn't know if I would be able to rediscover my touch."
After that tough stint at a bakery in his hometown (he spent his evenings maintaining basic fitness so he didn't put on excess weight), he quickly made his way through the levels once the doors opened after the initial wave of infections abated. At the 2022 Asia Cup, he was handed a maiden senior cap by then-captain Birendra Lakra. To mark the occasion, the Odisha defender also gave him a hair band. "Biren Lakra gave me the blue band (he always plays with it) when he was my captain. He had played with it at the Olympics. I tried it on and it sat nicely with me so kind of made it my identity."
Primarily, he will also be aiming to make goal-scoring his calling card.