S. K. Uthappa

S. K. Uthappa
Personal information
Full nameSannuvanda Kushalappa Uthappa
Born2 December 1991
Coorg, Karnataka, India
Playing positionForward
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2011–presentIOCL
2012–presentKarnataka Lions
2013–presentUttar Pradesh Wizards12(1)
National team
2012–presentIndia64(11)

Sannuvanda Kushalappa Uthappa (born 2 December 1991) is an Indian professional field hockey player. He was part of the Indian team which secured qualification to the 2012 London Summer Olympic games.

Having joined Sports Authority of India, Uthappa has matured superbly as a player. Equipped with a keen hockey brain and the ability to scythe through the toughest of defenses, the Gonikoppal player left an indelible mark at every stage right from his school days at St. Joseph's Indian High School (SJIHS) to his stint with the Karnataka team at the National Championships last year.

Early career

Uthappa picked up the sport as a profession at the age of 8 after growing up watching his brother play hockey for Bangalore University. To his credit, Uthappa still holds the state record for scoring the highest no of goals (16) in 5 matches that he played for Coorg team at the age of 11 in the state level competition. He also guided the Coorg team to victory against the mighty Bangalore team ending the Bangalore team's 4 year winning streak. Uthappa was also a National level Basketball player where in he represented Karnataka team in the 49th National Basketball Championships held at Chennai in 2004. During his school days he also represented Coorg in events like badminton and football at the State Level competitions.

Choosing the sport which he loved the most he then moved to Bangalore eight years ago to continue his passion for Hockey at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center there.[1] Uthappa was a product of the National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) scheme at SJIHS. He joined SAI and ever since has excelled as a player both for his college St. Joseph's College of Commerce and Bangalore University. His performance did not go unnoticed and soon he was playing for the state, Prabhakar, who heads the SAI training centre at the hockey stadium in Akkithimmanahalli. In 2010 he captained Karnataka to Junior Nationals title victory in Pune, defeating hockey powerhouse Punjab in the final.[2] He was adjudged the best player in the 2011 Senior National championship in Bhopal where Karnataka finished runners-up.[3] But a slot in the team wasn't that easy. A groin injury in the first camp put paid to his hopes. He couldn't make an impact at the camp till December before a steady performance in his debut in the recent test series against South Africa in Delhi finally clinched the issue.

His body feint is admirable. He can prove more than a handful for the defenders. His sense of passing is good. However, he can be a fine all-round player if he sharpens his defensive skills, says Prabhakar, who has honed Uthappa's skills ever since the lad was singled out for greater deeds during his formative years. According to the coach, Uthappa can scale greater heights if he worked harder. He has always been laid-back during practice. He would insist that he was confident of doing well during match days. That is one drawback that Uthappa has to rectify. I am sure he will,now that he has made it to the Olympic qualifiers, Prabhakar said.[4]

Debut

Uthappa made his international debut against South Africa on 16 January 2012 during the first match of the Karbonn Cup Hockey five-match test series. He scored a goal in his debut match at the 53rd minute mark. In that series, he featured in 4 matches, winning three, drew one and scored 3 goals in the process. He was also given a special award from Hockey India for scoring in his debut match.

2012 Olympics Qualifiers

Based on his performances against South Africa, Uthappa was selected to play in the 2012 Olympic Qualification Tournament. He went on to play in all 6 matches (5 group and 1 Finals) in the tournament scoring one goal in the first match against Singapore.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Youngsters set to live a dream at Olympic qualifiers". ZEE News. 10 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Uthappa aims for bigger glory". IBN Live. 2 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "SK Uthappa puts Coorg on hockey map once again". India Today. 22 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Uthappa can be a fine all-round player: Coach". Times of India. 2012.