FIH Hockey Junior Men’s WC: Son of a home guard, Shardanand Tiwari aims to represent India

Currently,
part
of
the
Indian
Junior
Men’s
Core
Probables
Group
for
the
upcoming
FIH
Odisha
Hockey
Men’s
Junior
World
Cup
Bhubaneswar
2021,
Shardanand
took
a
moment
to
reflect
on
his
journey
and
spoke
about
how
he
got
inspired
by
his
hardworking
father,
who
works
as
a
home
guard
in
Lucknow.

“My
friends
introduced
me
to
hockey,
I
started
playing
with
them,
and
I
wasn’t
really
interested
in
studies,
so
I
picked
up
sports.
I
honed
my
skills
at
SAI-Academy,
Lucknow,
and
got
a
chance
to
play
at
the
9th
Hockey
India
Junior
Men
National
Championship
2019
(A
Division),
where
our
team
Uttar
Pradesh
Hockey
clinched
the
Silver
Medal.
After
that,
I
got
selected
for
the
Junior
National
camp,”
said
Shardanand,
who
was
part
of
the
Uttar
Pradesh
U21
team
that
clinched
Gold
at
the
Khelo
India
Youth
Games
2020.

“It
has
been
a
challenging
journey.
I
didn’t
have
enough
financial
support
initially
as
my
father
was
the
sole
bread
earner.
He
works
as
a
home
guard,
and
I
have
an
elder
brother
as
well,
so
all
the
earnings
were
spent
on
our
studies.
In
fact,
during
my
school
summer
breaks,
I
used
to
work
at
a
departmental
store,
where
I
used
to
earn
around
700
rupees.
So,
it
was
tough,
I
couldn’t
even
afford
to
buy
hockey
sticks.
But,
ever
since
I
picked
up
hockey,
my
life
has
changed.
It
is
everything
for
me,
it
has
helped
me
and
my
family
overcome
various
challenges,
and
I
believe
it
will
certainly
help
me
bring
financial
stability
for
my
family,”
he
added.

The
young
defender
made
his
debut
for
the
junior
national
team
at
the
2019
Sultan
of
Johar
Cup,
where
India
clinched
the
Silver
Medal.
Speaking
about
the
achievement,
Shardanand
said,
“It
was
my
debut
tournament
with
the
national
team,
and
the
moment
I
got
to
know
that
I’ve
made
the
cut,
I
called
my
dad.
I
told
him
that
I
will
be
playing
for
India,
he
got
very
emotional,
and,
that
moment
I
realised,
my
dad
is
the
reason
behind
it.
I
see
him
as
my
biggest
inspiration.
He
used
to
stay
awake
in
the
night
and
also
used
to
work
in
the
day
only
because
I
and
my
brother
could
pursue
our
dreams.”

Shardanand,
who
dreams
of
representing
India
at
the
highest
of
levels,
is
aiming
to
make
the
final
team
for
the
upcoming
FIH
Odisha
Hockey
Men’s
Junior
World
Cup
Bhubaneswar
2021.

“My
dream
is
to
play
for
the
senior
team
at
all
the
major
tournaments
and
win
medals
for
the
country.
But,
it’s
a
step-by-step
process,
and
my
first
step
is
to
make
the
final
squad
for
the
upcoming
Junior
World
Cup.
Being
a
host
and
the
defending
Champions,
it
will
be
a
big
challenge
for
us.
We
all
are
excited
about
it
and
make
the
most
out
of
every
single
day
spent
at
the
camp,”
he
signed
off.

Source:
HI
Release