1948 London Olympics - the tricolors of independent India fluttered gloriously for the first time in an international sports arena. What a moment it must have been for those Indians who witnessed it.
The Indian hockey team put India on the world sports map. India dominated the game much before independence. It won the Olympic gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936 even in fetters and maintained its Olympic conquest by winning the gold in 1948, 1952 and 1956.
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India’s first set back came in Tokyo 1958 Asian Games, when it lost the gold medal to Pakistan. Two years later in 1960 at Rome Olympics, Pakistan’s Naseer Bunda’s goal in the finals brought India’s 32-year rule in Olympic hockey to an end, with a silver. Though India won the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and managed the Asian Games gold in 1966 but its monopoly was waning. A bronze in 1968 and 1972 Olympics seemed to say it all.
The World Cup Hockey tournament started in 1971 at Barcelona, India managed the third position in the inaugural tournament and gained the second place at the 1973 Amsterdam World Cup, India’s World Cup graph shot up in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur when it defeated arch-rival Pakistan in the finals to win the World Cup. Well, that was India’s first World Cup win and last World Cup medal in last 41 years.
In 1976, the Montreal Olympics saw astroturf. In spite of having talented players like Virendra Singh, Bhaskaran, Ashok Kumar, Govinda, Philip and a team which won the World Cup the previous year, India came home without a medal for the first time. The Lords of the grass conceded defeat on the artificial green – they weren’t physically strong enough.
The friction was less on the astroturf, so it increased the speed of the game, making for more accuracy in passing, precise hitting, and stopping. The guile and the stick work of Indians just did not work on the surface. Though they won the thinly fought 1980 Moscow Olympic gold their downfall dated back to 1976.
The 80’s and earlier half of the 90’s witnessed the dark age of Indian hockey. Not only did it lose out in supremacy, it also lost its popularity in India. The biggest disappointment came in 2008 when we failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.
The game which according to Pandit Nehru gave India a certain stature and according to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, was the only game which gave India a ray of hope, was going through hard times. After 1980 Moscow Olympics win, we never qualified in the last four, in an Olympic or in a World Cup tournament.
We could just manage 3 Asian Games gold, one of them being back in Bangkok 1966 and other two in Bangkok 1998 and Incheon 2014. By winning the Asian Games gold in 2014, we were the first team to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Good chance in Rio 2016
Our recent performances have been encouraging post-2014 Asian Games. We beat Australia 3-1 Down Under in their own backyard, this was a very rare triumph in India hockey history. India Under-21 won Sultan of Johor Cup title the same year. We rounded off the year with a 4th place finish in Champions trophy help in Bhubaneswar but on a positive note, we beat Netherlands and Belgium to the run up to the semifinal.
Though we lost in the final minutes to Pakistan but Sreejesh Ravindran bagged the best goalkeeper award, while Akashdeep Singh was adjusted the best young player of the tournament. The year finished off with a lot of bright notes.
India finished with bronze in FIH World Hockey League in December 2015. Sardar Singh-led a very young and inexperienced team to finish runners-up at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in April 2016. This was a good experiment before getting the right combination for Rio. Youngsters like Harmanpreet Singh, Talwinder Singh, and Harjeet Singh showed they ready for the highest level.
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Coach Oltmans feels Azlan Shah outing was good preparation for Rio. According to Oltmans the tournament helped to identify the team’s weakness and can now work on them extensively to make sure that team India has a strong showing at the Olympics.
The Champions Trophy in England this June will be the final dress rehearsal before the Rio Olympics. Now its up to Sardar Singh, Sreejesh and Raghunath with a bunch of younger lot to play their full potential and keep the momentum going. Also, the experience of Indian players rubbing shoulders with foreign players in Hockey India league should come good. Maybe with little bit of lady luck and avoiding conceding late goals, we have a bright chance for a podium finish in Rio 2016.
Good luck and get back our crown boys!
