Former Indian Goalkeeper Baljit Singh Relives Memories of 2009 Four Nation Punjab Gold Cup

Indian hockey endured a ‘never-before-seen low’ when they failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years, losing 0-2 to Great Britain in the final of the 2008 Olympic qualifiers at Santiago. Around ten months later, Indian hockey was looking for a ‘trigger’ to resuscitate the line of thought that Indian hockey was primed for ‘reputation damage control’. The 2009 Four Nation Punjab Gold Cup played at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in Chandigarh was an opportunity to make a statement to the world hockey – the Blueshirts indeed made ‘one’ beating then reigning world champions Germany 2-0 in the league phase as well as twice holding then defending European champions Netherlands to hard-fought 4-4 and 2-2 draws in the league phase before the Dutch had the last laugh in the final. Interestingly, India’s win over Germany was their first in six years (since India’s 3-2 win at the 2003 Champions Trophy at Amstelveen) and instilled a strong belief that Indian hockey can only climb up the ladders after the ‘Santiago’ Low’.

Indian goalkeeper Baljit Singh was one of the chief architects of that famous 2-0 win over 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist Germany – the Indian shot-stopper must have made nearly a dozen saves against the marauding Germans and was deservedly rewarded with the Man-of-the-Match award. “I still remember the Indian team used to stay at the Taj Hotel. The Germany side after coming to India realized that the Netherlands had come into the tournament without their ace drag-flicker Taeke Taekema – so Germany sent home one or two players after landing in India (since it was an invitational tournament, teams were allowed to change players at the eleventh hour) although they fielded a full-strength side. Germany underestimated us and we were really fired up and came up with an outstanding performance. Germany earned 8 penalty corners besides several one-to-one attacks but we nullified them,” says recalls Bajit in an exclusive chat with Hockey Passion.

The ex-Indian goalkeeeper shares an anecdote about how Germany’s team coach Markus Weise was all praise for Baljit’s goalkeeping in that match. “I still have a newspaper clipping wherein Germany’s coach Markus Weise said the Germans lost not because of the Indian team but because of goalkeeper Baljit Singh. The tournament has special memories because it was my first tournament in front of my home crowd – my childhood coach late Jasbir Singh Bajwa and my parents were watching from the stands.”

India really turned on the style at the 2009 Four Nation Punjab Gold Cup – India held the Netherlands to an intriguing 4-4 draw, where India struck three goals in quick succession and even missed a penalty stroke via captain Sandeep Singh after trailing 0-2 at one stage, to lap up a 3-2 lead. Even though the Dutch made it 3-3, India again regained the lead (4-3) before a late Netherlands ensured India did not go away with full points. “Prabhjot Singh scored the second goal for India and broke into celebrations taking off his jersey waving to the boisterous home crowd and in the process had to retie the bandana. He stepped out of the playing arena to tie the bandana and Indian scored another goal with 10 men as he was fixing his bandana on the sidelines,” recalls Baljit, who had made his senior international debut against Australia at the 2007 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh.

The 2009 Four Nation Punjab Gold Cup will always evoke fond memories among the Indian hockey fraternity.