It's good times to be an Indian hockey fan
At the time of the preliminary round of the FIH league, India were ranked 8th globally. En route to their qualification, India defeated France, Poland & Malaysia, drew with Pakistan and lost to Australia, Belgium and Great Britain and quite hearteningly qualified for the finals not because they were the hosts, but through their performance on the field.
India came into the finals on the back of a fairly successful Europe tour (defeating France and Spain in multiple matches), a successful tour of New Zealand and a drawn test series (1-1) against Australia at home – which they lost eventually only in a penalty shoot-out (whoever decides series victories with a penalty shoot-out!).
India's performance in the pool stages
India started out the campaign against Argentina – a team that they were expected to stand up against. However, India looked completely disoriented and out-of-sync as they went down 3-0 to Argentina. All 3 goals were scored through penalty corners.
After India’s performance, not much was expected from the home team against defending Olympic champions Germany. But India dominated the match. Although they conceded a goal in the 6th minute, they continued the pressure to convert a goal in the 47th minute to eke out a 1-1 draw – a significant morale booster as they went into the game against Netherlands.
Once again, an unpredictable India entered the field to take on World No 2 Netherlands in their last pool match. India played some attacking hockey and created quite a few chances but the perennial problem of last stroke paralysis hurt us again. Netherlands scored 3 goals, with India scoring only one through a penalty corner to lose 1-3.
Without a win in the pool stage, India were placed at Rank 4 in their group and were pitted against Pool A toppers Great Britain.
QF: India V/S Great Britain
The two teams entered the match with as diverse track records as possible in the tournament – India had not won a match while Great Britain had not lost one. To add to this, India had never beaten Great Britain in a hockey encounter since 1985. Clearly, the odds did not favour the host team.
But India had 2 goals going into half time – through players who had had a tough tournament so far, and it seemed that the team had clicked together and were showing strong results. While the Brits managed to pull one back, India held on to complete 2-1 upset.
SF: India V/S Belgium
A confident Indian team took to the field against the sturdy Belgians. The Indians were favourites – with a good performance against Great Britain, the crowd support and a higher world ranking. But Belgium scored a field goal in the 5th minute. It was a goal that should have been saved but an injured Sreejesh couldn’t stop it. India fought back all the way to the last minute but could not go past the stubborn Belgians who held on to a slender 1-0 lead for a full 55 minutes and won in the end.
3rd Place Match: India V/S Netherlands
The Indians were once again facing the Dutch for a race to podium. If successful, this would have been India’s first appearance on the podium of a major world hockey tournament since 1980.
The first half was clearly dominated by the Dutch – they had a comfortable lead of 2-0. But it was far away from what the 2nd half had in store. India, uncharacteristically, came back to score 3 goals in 12 minutes to take the lead 3-2. Netherlands fought back to make it 3-3. India scored two more goals to make it 5-3. Once again, the Dutch levelled through a last minute penalty corner to make it 5-5. Within a span of just 10 minutes, 6 goals were scored and the match fittingly entered a penalty shoot-out.
India managed the unexpected – they defeated the mighty Dutch (World No. 2) in a very close match.
Takeaways from the event
While India managed to get to the quarter finals here, the Olympics (Rio 2016) and the World Cup formats will not let them go through to the quarter finals without a win. Consistency is something that the team has to learn if it needs to go through to the knock-out stages regularly; consistency is important if you want to beat lower-ranked teams after upsetting the favourites in the previous match.
India’s ability to reach the opposition D-area has never been doubted, but it’s the finishing that India needs to work on. Penalty corners is yet another improvement area. The no of penalty corners and the conversion percentage for India was among the lowest in the tournament.
Another improvement area is the bench strength. India was fortunate to have a near full strength team in this tournament, with only forwards Nikkin Thimmaiah and Lalit Upadhyay missing out through injuries. Talwinder Singh and Md Amir Khan proved to be able replacements as they produced impressive displays throughout the tournament.
However, India would need more bench strength as having strong backups for your top performers is key to sustained success in today’s age of hectic schedules)
However, India has a lot more positives than negatives to take from this tournament.
The team defence has significantly improved and it was quite evident especially in the games against Germany and Great Britain. Quite a few players have found rhythm & confidence in this tournament – players who were out of touch and were corner stones of India’s past performances. Additionally, the fitness level of the players has helped them finally match the pace of the global powerhouses throughout any match.
Significantly, India have managed to beat/draw with higher ranked teams and that is sure to play on the minds of the opposition when the Indians meet them in Rio. Their top-3 finish will surely push them further high on the hockey ranking charts and they will be serious contender for a medal when Rio Olympics comes around. It’s good to see that India isn’t just a pushover for the Europeans any more.
India may not regain its 1940-1970 hockey domination days ever again, but it’s good to see that the team is now a force to reckon with in the international arena. The team should now set global tournament targets and not just focus on winning at an Asia level.
Onto the Olympics!!!!
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