The India men's hockey team reached the semi-final for the first time after four decades while the women's team defeated Australia in a grand quarterfinal to reach the playoffs for the first time.
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The Indian psyche is a difficult thing to gauge in any sport. In the modern era, there are big demands from various sports from a population of 1.3 billion. Cricket and Badminton are two of the events where expectations reach fever pitch. In other sports, the expectations are low even before the event begins. The classic case is hockey. A sport that has given India gold medals has been pushed into the fringe. From 1984 to 2016, India struggled. Although India reached the quarterfinal in 2016, the appreciation was just to reach there.
That is the level of expectation that we have given to the side. The men’s team has still some faint hopes, but none from the women. In the last couple of years, the Indian women’s hockey team has given a billion Indians enough reasons to ensure they win a medal. The good times are currently on in Tokyo Olympics 2020, with both the men and women’s team reaching the semi-final. For the men, it is the first time in a semi-final after 49 years. The women have reached for the first time. (Full report for India vs Australia Tokyo Olympics 2020)
Everybody loves a gladiatorial fight. When a team is down and out and they fight back in an epic way, expectations skyrocket. The journey for the men’s and women’s hockey team has undergone a similar journey in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
India women’s team lost to Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain. However, their wins against Ireland and South Africa were epic. The match against South Africa was just what the doctor ordered to prepare against the formidable Aussies. Even in the men’s team, they had starting problems. They won 3-2 against New Zealand but were blown away by Australia 1-7. It was the wake-up call that the India men’s hockey team was needed. They won against Spain, gold medalists Argentina and trounced Japan in style. When they beat Great Britain, a story of redemption was been built.
Everyone compared India’s hockey resurgence to cricket when they had visited Australia. In the first Test, they were bowled out for 36. From the depths of despair, with injuries to key players, India staged a comeback for the ages to win the series. The win was sweeter as they had beaten Australia in the Gabba for the first time after 32 years.
The women’s hockey team had a peculiar pattern in the game against South Africa. They took the lead three times only for South Africa to equalize in the last minutes of the three quarters. When Vandana Katariya scored a hat-trick to save India, they knew what they had to do against Australia.
The Indian players and Savita Punia, the goalkeeper, firmed up on the defence so brilliantly. They did not allow the Australian forwards to launch waves of attacks. Rani Rampal and Savita were in glorious touch, saving penalties and denying Australia any kind of space. A total of seven penalties were saved. This kind of attritional run choked the Australians and they found no opening. The defence, which was earlier missing in the league games, now went into overtime against Australia.
After the end of 60 minutes, India had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history. With the combined success of the men, India hockey is seeing good times.
The men’s hockey team knew they were backed to a wall after the 1-7 drubbing against Australia. They employed a combination of attack and defense. The stress was more on the attack. Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Hardik, Harmanpreet Singh form the bedrock of India’s attack cum defense strategy. After the horror against Australia, PR Sreejesh has been phenomenal, especially against Spain.
India women and men’s teams are learning fast and adapting to the conditions better. India men’s team will face Belgium in the semi-final. A win will guarantee them a medal after 41 years. But, Belgium are a tough opponent to crack. They are silver-medalists for a reason. Their gameplay might be challenged against the likes of either Australia or Germany. Australia have been dominant but the Kookaburras can be vulnerable, especially after what we say in the game against the Netherlands.
A perfect Chak De India moment is being scripted in Tokyo. 57 years ago, Indian hockey won gold at the same venue. Now, there is providence in the horizon for glory. One can hope that on the given day, Indian men’s and women’s team do not perceive it as a false dawn.
