LUCKNOW: Shradhanand Tiwari, son of an escort driver of Lucknow’s district magistrate (DM), was India’s spearhead at the junior hockey World Cup’s quarterfinal match against Belgium at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. He converted a penalty corner to score the only goal of the match to take his team into the semifinals.
Hailing from Simarpreet Pur village near Ekana cricket stadium here, the 18-year-old penalty corner specialist lives with his family in a 20X80 square feet government accommodation behind DM Abhishek Prakash’s official residence in Hazratganj. “It was a do or die match for us. In the entire match, it was the only golden chance provided to us by Belgium. The faces of my parents flashed in front of my eyes as I focused and converted the penalty into a goal,” said Shradhanand.
He is the second youngest among four siblings. His father, 55-year-old Ganga Prasad Tiwari, a home guard-cum-driver, was on official duty when Shardanand scored the winning goal. “I was on night duty when my youngest son Rahul called on the phone and informed me about the golden goal. It made me so proud,” said the overwhelmed father. By the time this report was filed, Ganga Prasad was still on night duty, while the rest of his family was celebrating the winning moment of the Indian team.
Sharing her son’s hockey journey, Rani Tiwari (47) said, “We came to Lucknow city more than a decade ago. We were extremely poor. Apart from my husband’s meagre earnings, Rs 1500 back then, Shradhanand used to work as a porter at a Hazratganj grocery store for Rs 200. I used to buy our ration from his earnings. He was eager to play hockey but didn’t have proper shoes, protective pads or a hockey stick, so his coach and friends helped him. During the lockdown, he practised on the footpaths.”
Shradhanand told TOI that after his selection in the junior Indian hockey team for the World Cup, his coach Arun Yadav gifted him a pair of shoes worth Rs 12,000. “He (Arun Yadav) was extremely happy with my selection and gifted me the shoes,” he said.
He added, “I use to collect kites at KD Singh Babu stadium, when Neelam Siddique, the hockey coach and wife of Rashid Aziz Khan (hockey coach for Sports Authority of India in Chhattisgarh), saw me and asked me to invest my energy in hockey.”
Hailing from Simarpreet Pur village near Ekana cricket stadium here, the 18-year-old penalty corner specialist lives with his family in a 20X80 square feet government accommodation behind DM Abhishek Prakash’s official residence in Hazratganj. “It was a do or die match for us. In the entire match, it was the only golden chance provided to us by Belgium. The faces of my parents flashed in front of my eyes as I focused and converted the penalty into a goal,” said Shradhanand.
He is the second youngest among four siblings. His father, 55-year-old Ganga Prasad Tiwari, a home guard-cum-driver, was on official duty when Shardanand scored the winning goal. “I was on night duty when my youngest son Rahul called on the phone and informed me about the golden goal. It made me so proud,” said the overwhelmed father. By the time this report was filed, Ganga Prasad was still on night duty, while the rest of his family was celebrating the winning moment of the Indian team.
Sharing her son’s hockey journey, Rani Tiwari (47) said, “We came to Lucknow city more than a decade ago. We were extremely poor. Apart from my husband’s meagre earnings, Rs 1500 back then, Shradhanand used to work as a porter at a Hazratganj grocery store for Rs 200. I used to buy our ration from his earnings. He was eager to play hockey but didn’t have proper shoes, protective pads or a hockey stick, so his coach and friends helped him. During the lockdown, he practised on the footpaths.”
Shradhanand told TOI that after his selection in the junior Indian hockey team for the World Cup, his coach Arun Yadav gifted him a pair of shoes worth Rs 12,000. “He (Arun Yadav) was extremely happy with my selection and gifted me the shoes,” he said.
He added, “I use to collect kites at KD Singh Babu stadium, when Neelam Siddique, the hockey coach and wife of Rashid Aziz Khan (hockey coach for Sports Authority of India in Chhattisgarh), saw me and asked me to invest my energy in hockey.”
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