Hockey: Only the beginning for India's youthful renaissance
India’s hockey players Sandeep Singh and Birendra Lakra during the game against Korea at last year’s Olympics
In the 33 years that have passed since the 1980 Olympiad in Moscow, the Indian men’s hockey team has not won a single medal in any of the subsequent eight Olympiads. Last year in London, the team finished 12th and last behind Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, Pakistan, Korea, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa in that order.
The team also suffered the ignominy of losing every single match at the Games; India were beaten in each of their five round-robin games in Pool B, as well as the final playoff match against South Africa to determine 11th/12th place.
They scored six goals while conceding 18 to end up at the bottom of the pile with a goal difference of -12. Their equals from the other group, South Africa, managed to draw one of their games. It can be argued though that India ostensibly had the tougher of the two groups with the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, Korea and New Zealand all in their pool.
After losing out narrowly to the Dutch 2-3 in their opening game, they were blown away in the remaining matches with ease by New Zealand (1-3), Germany (2-5), Korea (1-4) and even Belgium (0-3).
But, the lead-up to the event was so promising!
No, this is not another story of doom and gloom in Indian hockey, merely a revisit to the team’s performance at the quadrennial event last year to lay bare an almost seasonal swing that Indian men’s hockey seems to be riding for a good part of the last decade.
It is on the back of India’s most recent success at the Sultan Johor Cup in Malaysia that this conundrum arises – India’s junior teams perform extremely well, but that success has failed to translate into greater hopes of success at the senior level.
There is a huge groundswell of optimism and hope going into a major tournament thanks to good results preceding them, yet things seem to not quite go according to plan upon landing at the actual tournament.
Of the teams that India finished behind at the Olympics, falling behind the likes of the Germans, the Aussies, the Dutch and the Spaniards would not classify as a disaster. It is falling behind teams such as New Zealand, Britain, Belgium and South Africa that rankle in the minds that little bit longer.
It is of course, in no way to demean any of those teams, for they have displayed the progress that has been found wanting in the Indian setup for a long time now. So, credit to each of those teams for having put in developmental programs that have helped their teams progress in the manner that they have.
The juniors who played in Malaysia at the Sultan Johor event were excellent. Right through the tournament, they looked the team to beat and barring the draw with the hosts in the round-robin stage, they comfortably beat the remaining teams.
The brand of hockey that they put on show with some great exhibition of skill was a treat to watch. Some of the common complaints that are often aimed at the senior team – namely lack of skill, organization and profligacy in front of goal – were nowhere to be seen.
The current influx of youth has the standoff between Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) to thank for its opportunity. Last year’s rock-bottom finish led to coach Michael Nobbs plumping for youth and doing away with the old guard.