Junior Hockey World Cup: India's 2001 goalie relives triumphant journey

It was the closing seconds of India's last league match against The Netherlands in the 2001 Junior World Cup. Leading 4-3, India conceded a penalty corner. A victory was necessary for the Indian colts to advance to the last four stage and it all came down to goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan to save the day in Hobart.

Chauhan was nervous, much like all other players. The entire Indian team was looking towards their most experienced player Chauhan, who was also part of senior squad since 1999.

But it was Ignace Tirkey who made Chauhan's life easier by saying just one line. "Right side teri, left side meri (you take care of right side, I will defend the left)," Tirkey told Chauhan.

"Believe me, I was so relieved after hearing this from Ignace. I asked him if he could save such a powerful dragflick. He simply nodded his head with one word, 'kisi bhi tarah (come what may)'. And the rest is history," Chauhan recalled the entire incident to DNA on the eve of 2016 final between India and Belgium on Saturday.

"It was a powerful dragflick by the Dutchman towards my left side. Believe me, Ignace's stick was right behind that and the ball went over the goalpost. And we were in the semis," said the man who was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the 2001 tourney.

The Indian colts were busy watching the Australia-Argentina match before their crucial tie because an Australia victory could have made their life much more difficult.

"It was a last-minute solitary goal win for Argentina, which made us play like that because then a victory was enough for us to progress," Chauhan said.

For Chauhan, the team of 2001 was like a gang that used to raid as a unit. From Deepak Thakur to Prabhjot Singh to Gagan Ajit Singh, all of them ran at a lightening speed while Jugraj Singh went on to become India's best ever dragflicker.

The semifinal against Germany wasn't easy as they were clearly the best team of the tournament. But India had a dream start, taking a 3-0 lead till at half time.

"We were very sure that the Germans were going to come very hard on us. That's why I think we started off so cautiously and attacked from the word go," said Chauhan.

The next half was like a nightmare for India, though, as they conceded as many as 10 penalty corners.

"It was like a constant firing on the Indian goalpost. But luckily, the Germans could only convert one out of 10 PCs. The second goal was a field one. We survived, and then we knew no one could stop us from winning that trophy," Chauhan recalled.

If the final against Argentina was about pressure, the young turns showed none of it.

"There was no feeling like playing such a big game as we flew to a 3-0 lead in the first half. And the game was finished within the first 10 minutes of the second half when we scored three more," Chauhan described India's 6-1 final victory.

"Almost all the players at that point were talking about how we were going to celebrate after the final whistle," he added.

Chauhan went on to play for the senior team for many more years after 2001 along with a host of his other junior teammates. And he feels this bunch of 2016 has the same potential to graduate to senior squad soon.
But before that, their first test beckons on Sunday.