Why Back-to-Back Olympics Podium Finishes Mean So Much for Indian Hockey?
The rich legacy the Indian men’s hockey team have carved out across many decades has made one thing constant among the hockey fraternity – never-ending, sky-high expectations. The ceaseless discussions about our glory days (8 Olympic gold medals – the most won by any nation in the big-ticket competition) only cranks up every time our national team brace up for a major tournament like the Olympics or the World Cup. And matching those lofty expectations can appear insurmountable – any performance that is seen as ‘letting down’ its fans and supporters exposes the team to face a volley of criticism across all quarters, let alone social media vilification.
Read Craig Fulton’s Win-Loss Record as Indian Men’s Hockey Team Coach
Clearly, the back-to-back bronze medal winning performances has reinforced one thing for sure – our bronze triumph at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was no flash in the pan – until the Tokyo bronze win, discussions would revolve around whether the national team had the ammunition to beat top teams in high-profile tourneys such as the Olympics. Sarcastic whispers would be that the team was beating top sides in bilateral Test series or Invitational Tourneys. It has left no one in doubt that our fitness and tactical enhancements over the last decade or so were possible thanks to a focused, meticulous approach adopted by the federation (Hockey India), SAI, coaches and administrators.
The Tokyo bronze win medal also showed that the national team can take on top sides head-on without the fear of being pulverized or getting intimidated by opponents’ reputation. The self-belief in the side was always there and there are times when you need a trigger to accelerate your progress road – from that perspective the Tokyo bronze effort gave Indian hockey the much-needed boost – to call a spade a spade it was just what the doctor ordered.
One would have expected the Blueshirts to build on the Tokyo bronze win but there was a twist in the script almost like a Bollywood flick that has its twists and turns. The Indian men’s hockey team wore a disappointing look in front of their home crowd in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela, failing to make it to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Cup bowing out in the crossover stage. Hockey is an ’emotion’ in India and the national team crashing out in the crossover stage was indeed a big deal – it caused hockey tongues wagging about whether heads would roll. Chief coach Graham Reid, the man who received many pats on his back after the Tokyo bronze win, was made to realize how sport is a great leveller – barely 15 months later he was subjected to immense scrutiny and criticism – that’s Indian hockey for you – the burden of expectations is never easy to handle and because expectations are so huge, coming a cropper can invite a great deal of flak.
Read 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Hockey Stats File
The 2023 World Cup was a bitter pill to swallow and the national team picked up their pieces under former South African international and ex-Ireland and Belgium assistant coach Craig Fulton – the 49-year-old did not initially have results turn in his favour but he kept plugging away – the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy and 2023 Asian Games gold medal wins served as a desired springboard for the team to scale newer heights. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team wasn’t bandied about as a serious medal contender given the way the team came up short in the World Cup a year back.
The 2024 Olympic campaign start was far from for India who were playing far below their best – it needed skipper Harmanpreet Singh to do the rescue act in the first two games to help his team log full points against New Zealand and forced a draw against Argentina. India perhaps played their best hockey against Tokyo Olympic gold medallists Belgium – they made the Red Lions sweat for ball control and even led at half-time before they were done in by a second half goal. Maybe the national team treated the Belgium game as a nice warm-up ahead of their tie against Australia, who have been inflicting crushing defeats on us one after another in major tourneys. There was a lot at stake – Indians not only surprised the Kookaburras but perhaps themselves with the way they went about their business – after all, it is not often we sight the scoreboard reading India 3 Australia 1 with five minutes to go for the final hooter. The national team appeared ‘extra determined’ as they lapped up their first win over Australia in 53 years in the Olympics.
Read 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Hockey Stats File
The Australia win instilled an extra layer of ‘josh’ into the side – the team square up against Great Britain in the quarterfinals – the pugnacity of the side came to the fore as they repulsed opposition raids on a consistent basis despite playing with ten men for nearly three quarters owing to the unfortunate red card handed to Amit Rohidas. Even with numerical disadvantage India took the lead before Great Britain restored parity – the contest took the shootout route where Sreejesh came to the party. India reserved their best against Germany in the semifinal – it was an intriguing tussle with both teams giving nothing away – Marco Milkau’s goal in the dying moments ensured the match did not head into a shootout leaving India to compete in the bronze medal play-off tie. Fittingly, the occasion was just apt for captain Harmanpreet Singh to lead from the front – the burly fullback brought the team into the contest at the stroke of half-time and struck another in the early moments of the second half to propel his side on the bronze-winning journey.
An Olympic medal never comes easy – it may be worth noting that 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold and silver medallists Belgium and Australia were sent packing in the quarterfinal stage – it is worth recalling that Paris Olympic gold medallists Netherlands were shown the tournament exit door in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Given the changing dynamics in the world hockey order, back-to-back Olympic bronze medals is a strong statement that India is fast emerging as a hockey powerhouse. Staying at the top is even more tough than reaching there and the Indian team must strain every nerve to build on this and go beyond bronze in top-flight international tournaments.
