India men’s hockey team ended 41 years of pain as they beat Germany 5-4 in a pulsating bronze medal match to end their Tokyo Olympics 2020 campaign on the ultimate high.
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41 years! Imagine living with a pain for 41 years. The world around you has changed dramatically. Yet, you are stuck in a time warp unable to comprehend what has happened. Even for Moses, it took him 40 years to get to the Promised Land. But, this pain was something different. July 29, 1980 was the last time India hockey had won a medal in the Olympics. The 1980 Moscow Olympics was the last spluttering of the flame that India hockey carried. For the next four decades, a generation would grow up not knowing about our hockey heroes. The hockey apathy would be complete with cricket seeping into our conscience. But, over 14,600 days later, the pain has ended for India. A pulsating 5-4 win against Germany, in an absolute topsy-turvy match, fitted in right into India hockey’s dramatic journey.
From Moscow 1980 to Tokyo 2021, the world and India has had a sea change. When India last won a hockey medal, Sachin Tendulkar had not played cricket. Kapil Dev’s India had not won the World Cup. Virat Kohli was not even born. Shahrukh Khan and other superstars had not established themselves. It was still the era of the Angry Young Man in Big B. There was no digital TV. Mandal Commission, Shah Bano were still some years away. Doordarshan was the only channel available. Airtel, Jio, Vodafone were miles away from imagination. Getting a phone connection was filled with hassles. Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan was just on the drawing board. When cricket gained centrestage with the 1983 World Cup win, India’s hockey fortunes nosedived. No medals from 1984 to 2004. The breaking point came in 2008, when they failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.
Ironically, the year before in 2007, a film was released called Chak de India which celebrated the Indian women’s hockey team’s triumph against Australia. But, MS Dhoni won the 2007 ICC World T20. What should have been hockey’s national anthem was hijacked by cricket. Damm the machinations of Bollywood and Cricket
The connection to Indian hockey to Tokyo is very special. 56 years ago, they had arrived in the Olympics on the back of a crushing loss to Pakistan in Rome in 1960. It was a bitter feeling that India’s gold medal-winning streak was ended by their bitter arch-foes. It needed a splendid performance in Tokyo 1964 to reaffirm that Indian hockey was still capable of greatness.
From all the despair from 1984 to 2012, there was some hope when India reached the quarterfinals in 2016 Rio. They lost, but at least they had reached the knockout stages. It was some relief to them after years of finishing in the league stages. In seven Olympics, India finished 5th,6th,7th,8th,7th, 7th and 12th. No wonder a quarterfinal result was celebrated.
In that period, they started winning as well but also suffered heartbreaking losses. They beat Pakistan for gold in the 2014 Asian Games and secured the bronze in the Hockey World League by beating the Netherlands. But, there were heartbreaks as well. The sudden-death loss to Malaysia in the 2018 Asiad, the quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands at home in the World Cup, and the 2016 Champions Trophy loss to Australia in the final through penalties.
But, the roller-coaster ride prepared them for struggles on a big stage like Tokyo Olympics 2020. But, the challenges would only mount.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 was postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a big blow for the hockey team as they had built sufficient momentum. But, at the same time, they had to overcome the COVID-19 havoc even in their camp in Bangalore. Several members tested positive and their preparations took a big hit.
Yet, when the pandemic subsided, the team went into high gear. The starting of the tournament was not good at all if one had to look at it. They conceded two goals against New Zealand, which was not a good sign. The worst nightmare came true against Australia. In a brutal and flawless display, Australia completely decimated India 7-1. It was THAT scoreline that haunted Brazil on their home patch during the 2014 FIFA World Cup against Germany. It seemed India was down and out.
But, this Indian team is different. It needed an Australian to show the team that they were not bad. Graham Reid convinced India that the result was not bad and that the team was good in several areas. It was a simple message, which lacked the dramatics of the 70-minute speech by a film star. But, it worked.
From the loss to Australia, India arose like a phoenix. They beat Spain, 2016 gold medalists Argentina and also Japan to finish second. India also beat Great Britain to enter the semi-final. They had held on for a 2-1 lead against Belgium. But, the top team apart from Australia in world hockey put relentless pressure on India.
The only problem for India is when their defense has been tested, they have crumbled. PR Sreejesh, as the one-man savior, could only do so much in stopping the onslaught. They had conceded 19 goals. Against Germany, they were down 1-3. But, in this case, all the hurt of the previous matches gave them the experience to bounce back. Harmanpreet and Hardik, in particular, have been outstanding in this Olympics. In a blitz of two quarters, India totally overturned the advantage to go 5-3 up.
The dying moments had their share of drama. India conceded a penalty and Germany reduced the deficit. In the dying minutes, they failed to convert a penalty. India had held on by the barest of margins. But, 41 years of pain necessarily need not go away easily. They had to fight every inch for it. When the final whistle blew, hockey had come back in the national conscience of the country after 41 years. After 1980, hockey suffered years of neglect. But, with total government and private support, the Tokyo 2020 bronze is the first step in broader redemption in the near future. For now, the country can finally say Chak de India.
