BANGALORE: He is a different Uthappa. S K are his initials. The 20-year-old Kodava may not have topped the scorers charts but he did possess important weapons to marshal the midfield as Karnataka swathed their way into the final of the Hockey India-organised first senior national hockey championship in Bhopal.Unfortunately, after a series of brilliant performances, Karnataka couldn’t convert their best run into a title victory, as they faltered in the final hurdle, losing to Haryana 1-2. Uthappa, a product of Sports Authority of India, scored just one goal in the tournament but his magic in the middle was good enough to be adjudged as the player of the tournament.“I just played my game throughout the tournament.I was never aiming to impress anybody or to win the player of the tournament award. I did what I could do and I excelled,” said the 20-year-old commerce student of St Josephs Commerce College.The reward for his impressive show came when his name featured in the 11 shortlisted probables from Karnataka for the Indian camp currently underway at the SAI South Centre, a camp with more than 100 players.“This is the second time, I am among the Indian probables and I hope this time I can make it to the Indian team. The last time I was in the camp was in 2010 after the junior nationals but my name did not figure when the final list was announced,” he said.In 2010, he led Karnataka juniors to title victory in Pune, defeating hockey powerhouse Punjab in the final.His brilliance in Pune saw him feature in the Indian probable squad but could not make it to the final 15.Uthappa nurtures a big dream: To be the first Kodava player after Len Aiyappa to make it to the national squad.“For a long time now Kodava’s have not made it to the national squad and I want to end the drought by producing a quality hockey in the camp and make it to the team,” said a beaming Uthappa.
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