Indian hockey team will win medals if Tokyo Olympics take place: Yuvraj Valmiki
Yuvraj Valmiki, popularly known as the Prince of Indian Hockey, in the new episode of Sports Tiger Talks, talks about the struggles in his life and how hockey has helped him become a better person. He also spoke about the Indian hockey team’s winning prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, the memorable final against Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy and his journey in the world of entertainment, including his experience in the reality show – Khatron Ke Khiladi.
Yuvraj spoke about the struggle of his early days. He talked about how he grew up in a 10×10 room in Mumbai with no electricity and water and how he kept up with his passion. He said, I have no competitors, I keep competing with myself to be a better person and work hard every day. In the end, I got a great result and wearing the tricolor badge on the chest is probably the biggest dream of every player.
Yuvraj is very optimistic about the prospects of the Indian hockey team in the upcoming Olympics. The hockey player said, “One thing I would say for sure is that Indian hockey is performing well under Sreejesh and Manpreet (Singh) right now. At the same time, he said that, if the Tokyo Olympics is organized, then the Indian hockey team will win a medal this time, it is a firm belief in my heart.
The Indian hockey team has won 8 gold medals at the Olympics – the most gold medals won by any team in the history of the Games. Yuvraj believes that winning medals at such a high level will help the hockey players in India to get the importance in the current generation which is not yet available to the Indian hockey players. Because in our country the preference is given to cricket than any other sport.
2011 was a successful year for the Prince of Indian Hockey as he represented India in the Asian Champions Trophy, where he emerged as a star in the final against Pakistan. Notably, India did not score in regulation and extra time but then won the tournament by defeating Pakistan in a penalty shootout. Yuvraj expressed happiness on being a part of such a historic match and said, when the Indian flag was being hoisted and the Pakistan flag was coming down, at that time I felt that I have done something for the country because our national flag is mine. The reason was being picked up.
He also spoke candidly on the scenario during India-Pakistan matches. India vs Pakistan is always a special match. During that time no strategy works because emotions play such a big role. We have always been a tough challenge for them. The members of Pakistan Hockey team are also my friends. When it comes to the game, we all get along like good friends, but when we put our foot on the field, we don’t look left or right, we just focus on winning that match because we don’t want to win any match. Can’t lose against them at any cost.
Yuvraj has not only been an exceptional player in the field of hockey, but he has also tried his hand in the world of entertainment. He has worked in a web series and was also a part of the reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi. Sharing his experience from the entertainment industry, Yuvraj said, It is such a wonderful experience when you are the first to do something, it is always special. I have been the first hockey player to do so in most cases. This experience was amazing, I got to know Bollywood and since I did Khatron Ke Khiladi, I have got a lot of friends in the TV industry. Today Jai Bhanushali, Raghav and other friends are like my family.
Yuvraj, who is a big fan of former India captain Dhanraj Pillay, has also played in the German Hockey League for 8 years. He has played a total of 52 matches and scored 14 goals for India. He was a key member of the 2014 Hockey World Cup team in the Netherlands.
