India junior star Boby Dhami looks back on a family crisis and his hockey rise

With the gold medal hanging from his neck and the Junior Asia Cup trophy in his hands, Boby Singh Dhami rejoiced with teammates atop the rostrum in Salalah, Oman early this month. He had played a crucial role in India's fourth win, scoring six goals including a hat-trick in the semi-finals against South Korea.

Boby had picked up rhythm from where he left off in his last international tournament – Sultan of Johor Cup in October 2022. The 20-year-old was instrumental in India winning the invitational tournament.

In June 2022, Boby scored a brace in the final against Poland to help India win the inaugural FIH Hockey5s in Switzerland. Since his international debut at the 2021 Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar, the forward has shone with his ability to poach balls, and score or assist.

Life wasn't smooth growing up in Katiyani village, in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on the border with Nepal. Boby’s father, Shyam Singh was a taxi driver. The car he was driving met with an accident after the brakes failed, leading to the death of four passengers.

Nine months later, the steering column broke while he was driving and three passengers died in the accident. A case was filed and Boby’s father was jailed in 2003-04.

With the bread-winner behind bars, Boby's mother Hema Devi sent her two sons to live with her brother Parkash in Tanakpur in the state. The absence of a good school was also a reason for Boby's mother to send him to live with his maternal grandparents and uncle when he was in the fifth standard.

“My mama used to play hockey and is an NIS (National Institute of Sports)-accredited coach. It was he who suggested I take up the sport. I played in Tanakpur for six months,” says Boby.

Realising his potential in hockey, Parkash sent Boby to Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun, where he was selected after trials in March 2012. “It was in Dehradun that I learnt everything about hockey under coaches Pankaj Rawat and Suresh Botiyal. I started playing at the district level, then state and then national. I played there for six years,” said Boby, who made his junior India debut in December 2021.

After passing 11th standard, Boby decided to focus on hockey, leaving school and taking admission from open board. He gave trials at Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sonepat where he was selected on the second time is 2018. It was in Sonepat that he caught the attention of SAI coaches Varun Belwal and Piyush Dubey, who is currently with the India senior team.

Boby started impressing the scouts with his shooting, speed and ability to penetrate the striking circle in national level tournaments, especially in the senior nationals in January 2019 where his SAI team won bronze. He scored seven goals, which helped get selected to the 60-member senior national camp. He didn't make the final cut, of the 33 core probables.

Determined to break into the national squad, Boby played in the junior nationals for Haryana a month later and his team won bronze. Although he played in the senior nationals the next year, in February 2020 when Haryana lost in the quarters, he impressed then high performance director of Indian hockey, David John, who picked him for the junior national camp of which he has been a part of ever since. Though Covid-19 struck in March 2020, bringing a halt to all tournaments, Boby finally made his debut during the 2021 Junior World Cup in December 2021 becoming the first male player, junior or senior, from Uttarakhand to represent India.

While Boby continued his rise up the hockey ladder, things improved at home as his father, after a 10-year court battle, was let off in 2014 when the case was closed. His home finances improved when his mother got a job as a private school teacher. His elder brother Sohan joined the Army in 2019.

Boby too is earning. He gets stipend playing for the department teams and last year was given the Khelo India scholarship. His father Shyam has quit driving and is a contractual labourer under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. The family was thrilled when he helped India win the Junior Asia Cup and qualify for the junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in December.

"My family is very proud of me. I come from a poor family. My mother struggled a lot. We didn’t get all the good amenities or facilities while growing up. But now they are very happy. It was a proud moment to win the Asia Cup. My dream is to win tournaments like the Asia Cup and World Cup," said Boby.

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