Sharpshooter Mohammed Raheel aims to consolidate gains

Mohammed Raheel's childhood dream. He has worked for it for over a decade now. When he got the opportunity at the FIH Hockey 5s tournament recently, he made optimum use of it.

The 25-year-old striker from Bengaluru scored 10 goals in five matches to emerge the top-scorer and was fittingly adjudged the player of the tournament. India won the tournament over the weekend with a thrilling 6-4 win over Poland in the title clash. Back in the city after the successful campaign in the inaugural edition of the competition, Raheel, who is the captain of the Karnataka team, is looking to build on the performance in Lausanne.

Although the format was played for the first time on the international stage, Hockey India has been organising the same over the past few years at the national level. Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, the promising international player said, "I've played in three editions of the Hockey India 5's competition, so I had experience but the level of competition was completely different and we had to adapt to it quickly." On the tournament in Lausanne, he stated, "The tournament by itself was a great experience. We played a fast-paced game against some of the best teams in the world.

I'm very happy I was able to make a significant contribution to the team's success." Raheel picked the final match against Poland as the best in the tournament. "At one point of time we were trailing by three goals. To be able to make that comeback in quick time was a confidence booster," he added.

Raheel, who hails from a family of hockey players with both his father Md. Naseeruddin and elder brother Md. Naeemuddin having played as strikers, was picked for the Indian camp in January this year.