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Sheshe Gowda B.M., a hockey player from Hassan, has been selected to represent India in the upcoming Asia Cup tourney to be held in Jakarta in Indonesia between May 23 and June 1. He is said to be the first hockey player from Hassan to get a chance to represent the country.
Sheshe Gowda, 28, was born into a poor family in Hassan. His father Mahesh is a construction worker and his mother Kamala is a cook in a hostel. He was introduced to hockey when he was in class 4 at government higher primary school at Ravindra Nagar in Hassan. His first coach was Savithramma, a physical education instructor in the school. Later, he learnt the game under Ravish, a popular hockey coach in Hassan. He joined the sports hostel in Kushala Nagar for high school and moved to senior sports school in Bengaluru for pre-university education. He completed his BA in Bengaluru before joining Indian Railways.
Sheshe Gowda participated in senior national hockey championships and won gold in 2017, 2019, bronze in 2018 and silver in 2021. He also won gold in the all-India university tourney in 2014. Before that, he won bronze in the 2011 national championship (under 17). For the first time, he is taking part in an international event.
“Now I have got an opportunity to represent the country in an international tourney. I am happy for getting selected”, Sheshe Gowda told The Hindu over phone. Right now, he is attending a training camp in Bengaluru. Two other players from Karnataka selected to take part in the Asia Cup tourney are S.V. Sunil and Abaran Sudev. Both are from Kodagu.
