Bharat being carried by his teammates after India won the match against England at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. (AP)

Kalimpong, Oct. 13: The hill town is basking in the glory of Team India’s hockey goalie, a day after the nation toasted Bharat Chhetri’s match-winning save that helped the country reach the Commonwealth Games final for the first time.

Bharat was born in Upper Payung at 16 Mile, about 10km from here, on December 21, 1981.

India sealed a berth in the Games final after an exciting semi-final match last night. India and England were locked 3-3 in the regulation 70-minute play plus the extra time. Then Bharat came up with a brilliant save to foil England’s Glen Kirkham’s shot in the penalty shoot-out that followed.

The hill boy’s birth as a hockey player took place in Danapur, a town in Bihar, 12 summers after his birth. That was the time his mother Parvati put him under the tutelage of a distant relative Rana, a hockey coach based in Danapur.

Till then, Bharat was a student at St George’s High School in Pedong, 22km from here.

“After he finished his Class VIII, I sent him to Danapur and put him under the tutelage of my relative. He stayed with him for two years and got initiated into hockey,” said Parvati, who now lives with her husband, K.B. Dahal, in Methibari near Siliguri.

The Chhetris, quite expectedly, were overjoyed at the exploits of their son.

“I didn’t have the heart to watch the penalty shoot-out. I, instead, turned to god and kept praying. We have been following every hockey game featuring India in the Commonwealth Games. We are so proud of our son,” said Parvati on the phone from Methibari.

Bharat’s teachers at St Geroge’s School, however, have little memory of the boy, which suggests that he was average both in studies and extracurricular activities.

“I can’t put him in place. I think I must have taught him for a year. Most of the teachers from his time in the school have retired,” said Ashok Tamang, a senior teacher of the school.

The hills are hailing Bharat as the hero, even though hockey as a sport is not played generally by the local people.

“Bharat has done the entire hills proud. We had wanted to invite him when the Queen’s Baton relay passed through the hills, but we dropped the idea as he was then playing for a club in Germany. Our best wishes are with him,” said Urgen Mini Lama, the president of the Kalimpong Sports Association.