Not every good thing that happens in one’s life can be foreseen or planned. For Dr Sarthak Patnaik, who travelled with the Indian ice hockey team as the chief medical officer at the ongoing Asian Winter Games, the association with the sport was no different.
“Long time back, after I returned from the US, I was surfing (on the internet) when I came across some ice hockey news,” Dr Patnaik reminisced during an exclusive chat with TOI.
“I tried to reach the then secretary Mr Jindi who asked me to meet him. Slowly, our meetings and connection became frequent and stronger, and later I helped Team India in their group/zone games at Bishkek, Kuwait and Malaysia. Last year, I was part of the Khelo India games too. Being an orthopaedic surgeon and an expert in sports medicine, I used to play a pivotal role in this high-contact sport and maybe that impressed the management.”
The renowned sports medicine expert from Odisha and founder of Bhubaneswar-based Sports Science India (SSI), a sports science and rehabilitation centre and sports promotion firm, was part of the men’s ice hockey contingent that saw India beat Macau to script their first international win in seven years.
“It’s always a privilege to serve sports and to serve sportspersons from our country,” Dr Patnaik told TOI from Harbin, China — the venue of the current continental winter games. “I find the people in this part of the country to be very helpful. They like Indians and took photos with us. They treat our team with respect.”
Although India could not make it past the group stages due to their heavy losses against Hong Kong and Turkmenistan in their other group-stage matches, it was not a bad showing from the team that got very little time to prepare as a unit due to the delay in selection by the sports ministry.
“It was a lovely experience. The guys are great. They all come from very humble backgrounds and it’s great to see how they are keeping India’s name high and maintaining the decorum and discipline. In short, it’s a privilege to be with the national team,” he said.
The win against Macau could be the beginning that winter sports in a tropical country require, to bring the govt’s attention to the sport as well as inspire more kids to join the game in future. And Dr Patnaik is awaiting more such steps that will help ice hockey thrive in India.
“We have an ice rink in Uttarakhand that was completed in 2010 and we had the South Asian Winter Games played there. But now it’s a sad affair that no such facilities are coming up and we are staring at a down phase in that respect,” he explained.
“We need more active participation from the govt by building more ice rinks, especially in the north, proper training and exposure to coaches, the motivation for more winter sports, the end to association politics and giving the national team more chances to practise in other countries,” said Dr Patnaik as he signed off with hopes to see the Indian flag fly higher in winter sports.