Coach Harendra Singh - Reliving the 5 most memorable matches

#1 India vs Australia (CT Men - Final)

India almost get the better of the Aussies at Breda

The Indians beat Olympic champions Argentina a day after disposing of Pakistan to celebrate Sardar Singh's 300th international - and went on to hold Belgium and Holland thanks to the heroics of Sreejesh.

It was the last edition of the historic Champions Trophy and the Indians had lined up against a formidable Australian side in the final - hoping to win their first gold of the competition which began in 1978.

The Indians had lost the services of Ramandeep Singh after the Pakistan match and were effectively a man short for the rest of the tournament.

Colin Batch's champions began as they always do - by numbing the opposition with a flurry of early attacks which the Indians survived, and slowly got going with forays of their own which took the kookaburras by surprise.

Sreejesh, who had a great tournament, faced up to Blake Govers whose drag flick seemed to catch the Indian goalkeeper unawares, and Australia took the lead midway through the second quarter.

The veteran custodian, who went on to win the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award, told Sportskeeda after the tournament that Govers had fired in a slow flick - deliberately or otherwise - which foxed him completely.

The World Champions held the advantage at half-time, but India were looking good enough to equalize - and eventually did - thanks to Vivek Sagar who scored in the 41st minute.

Mandeep very nearly put his side ahead - and the Indians looked the better team as they pressed hard and deep, only to be denied by Tyler Lovell who had a dream match in front of goal.

It was Lovell who would prove to be the difference once more, as Harendra's brave bunch failed to outdo the Aussie goalkeeper in the fateful shootout - much like Oltmans' Indian side in the London 2016 final.

Hockey experts around the world have stated emphatically that it was the Indians who deserved to win the Breda final - and that the Australians were a trifle lucky on the day.

What is, indeed, noteworthy is that Harendra Singh almost got the better of the mighty Australians, as coach of both the men's and women's sides, in addition to guiding the colts to Junior World Cup glory by getting past the Aussies and the Belgians too.

Gold for India, at Breda, could well have altered the fortunes of the men's team in no small measure, and also cemented the position of their beloved mentor for a long time to come.

It was a case of so near, yet so far, for the umpteenth time, for Indian hockey - and Harendra Singh.