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Proud parents rejoice over Deepaka€™s success
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 07:37 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Una, Himachal Pradesh:
Its the stuff dreams are made off. A small town boy is picked for a hockey camp and goes on to become India's star in the Junior World Cup. NDTV travelled to Una in Himachal Pradesh to find out more about India's latest sports hero, Deepak Thakur who was the top scorer of the Junior World Cup, which India won for the first time. Ever since the news came in that their son Deepak Thakur had scored a hat trick in the Junior Hockey World Cup, there has been a constant stream of visitors congratulating them. Their house crammed with trophies is evidence of Deepak's prodigious talent. Deepak showed a keen interest in hockey when he was as young as eight. His father still remembers the day his son asked for a hockey stick. "That day all the children were playing in the field and he didn't even have the stick. He told me he didn't even have a stick so I borrowed a stick from a friend to placate him because I didn't have a stick at that time. When he got the stick he played very well even in the beginning. I thought if he's playing so well now he can grow to be a good player," recalls Nardev Singh, Deepak's father. But his parents soon realised that Una did not have the facilities to nurture his talent and he would have to shift out. And at the age of 12, he was selected to join the Sports Authority of India in Patiala. "We thought the way the family and home is, the child may face trouble in getting a job, we might not be able to give him a good education also, so if he goes into sports it might be a big help for him tomorrow even in getting a job," explained Lalita Thakur, Deepak's mother. Deepak went on to play in a number of international tournaments like Asia Cup held in Malaysia as well as the Sydney Olympics last year. Talent, gritty determination and hard work have marked Deepak Thakur's journey from the small town of Una in Himachal Pradesh to international hockey.Topics mentioned in this article
Hockey
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