Yuvraj Walmiki watched with pride as the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) received the the Best PSU in Sports Promotion award at the Sportstar Aces Awards supported by Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy, in association with MRF.
As part of the Senior Nationals-winning men’s hockey squad for three years, the India men and Railways forward has done his bit for his employer.
He and brother Devinder Walmiki (Petroleum Sports Promotion Board) discovered the power of sport to influence lives, moving from humble Mumbai beginnings to donning India colours (2014 FIH World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympic Games respectively being the highs) apart from being regulars in the German hockey league for different clubs.
Read: 'Being on Sportstar's cover like a childhood memory revived'
Excerpts from a chat...
Sport is supposed to have the power to change lives. Your experience?
It is an honour to be a part of Sportstar Aces Awards. We have grown up reading the headlines (on the sports page), accompanied by pictures. Our pictures also appeared. We took up sport hoping to represent India one day. It played an integral part in our lives, in shaping our careers.
Hockey has been a life-changing moment for both of you…
The sport has given us name and fame. We continue to pursue our career and look forward to [winning] more and more medals for India from hockey. Hopefully, we will get the Olympic medal in 2020 (Tokyo Games).
Odisha hosted the FIH World Cup Hockey last year. Your thoughts on where the game has reached…
India did a fantastic feat by reaching the quarterfinals. Our hockey is on the right track and [we are] ranked fifth in the world now with a fair chance against the leading nations. Matches against Belgium, Netherlands, Australia are hard-fought, unlike before when we used to lose by big margins. We hope the Indian team keeps up the good work and with more consistency, one day we should be able to call ourselves part of a hockey-playing gold medal-winning generation.
Railways won the Sr National Hockey title recently and the Railways Sports Promotion Board was awarded the nation’s best PSU in Sport Promotion. Your thoughts.
Indian Railways had a month-long camp for the Nationals and we beat Punjab, fielding many World Cuppers, in the final. The hard work is paying off. Being part of three Senior Nationals champion squads is a proud feeling. It is always an honour and matter of pride to play for Railways.
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