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When the Bombay Hockey Association missed their flight, Western Railway was right on time.
Last season, Western capitalised on Air-Indias inability to complete its commitments to top the BHA League. A couple of other impressive performances through the season, and the champions are ready to fight for their title.
Though most believe the title is going to be a three-way contest between heavyweights Air-India, Indian Airlines and Indian Oil Corporation, Western manager Azim Siddique brushes the speculation aside.
We have the capability to take on any of these teams on an even keel, Cookie Siddique said about how the inclusion of IA and IOC would affect his teams chances.
Besides, our team knows the conditions best as the boys have played most of their hockey here they know the atmosphere well. That will be a huge advantage for us. It is tough competition, but we are not under any pressure at all.
True, for, if the BHA league were to be played on a home-and-away basis, Western would undoubtedly be the home side when they take on the biggies. Our focus is to pick talent from the city, said Siddique.
Our entire recruitment policy is based on performance and so weve got a good bunch of youngsters who have come in. Honestly, this years team looks better than the one last year. The seniors in the team have matured and the fresh talent will be raring to go.
The team is built around seniors like Chandra Pal, Mukhtiyar Singh and Shanta Kumar, with new faces like Vijay Alphonso, Conroy Remedios and Shivender Singh fighting to prove their credentials.
A large part of the credit for Westerns success goes to a group of motivated individuals working at the top. Senior Sports officer Diana Eduljee, hockey secretary Z A Siddique and the General Secretary Sachan are constantly working towards improving the standards, the manager said.
Lets wait and see if the ever-improving standards give the bigwigs a run for the title. Team:Chandra Pal (captain), Sairam Bishnoy (GK), Ryan Sequiera, Sunil Kumar Singh, Rajnish Chaturvedi, Anand Sonkar, Inder Singh Negi, Gursevakh Singh, Alan Barla, Mukhtiyar Singh, Deepak Gupta, Vijay Alphonso, Shanta Kumar, Shivender Kumar, Conroy Remedios, Prem Kumar Singh, Sunil Perreira, Gurmeet Singh Rao.
Tomorrow:Central Railway and Indian Navy
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