If there were any two teams who covered themselves in glory despite being so near yet so far, it was the ‘Indian men and women’ hockey squad.
Their dedication did indeed pay rich dividends with the men having a podium finish by winning the bronze medal defeating Germany 5-4 ,breaking an Olympic medal drought of 40 years having last won a gold in 1980 Moscow Olympics where they beat Spain.
The women team which missed a bronze by a whisker losing to Great Britain 1-2 in the bronze medal match caught the nation’s imagination and known as NabhVarna, won the hearts of millions.
India which won its first Olympic gold medal in 1928 continued this victorious unbeaten run in the Olympics till 1960 winning six gold medals in a row. The team had a 30–0 winning streak during this time, from their first game until losing in the 1960 gold medal final in Rome Olympics to arch rival Pakistan. India also won the World Cup in 1975. Indian men’s hockey team is the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won eight gold medals in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980. India also has the best overall performance in Olympic history with 83 victories out of the 134 matches played. They have also scored the most goals in the Olympics than any other team. India is the only team to ever win the Olympics without conceding a single goal in 1928 and 1956.
India was also one of the most successful team in Asia having won the Asian Games three times in 1966, 1998 and 2014. India came out on top in the Asia Cup in 2003, 2007 and in 2017. India has won 40 out of the 53 matches, the most by any team in the Asia Cup. They are also the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy by winning the competition three times in 2011, 2016 and in 2018. In total, India has won 27 official international titles.
However, India’s rapid fall in the Olympics started at the Montreal games in 1976 when astro-turf hockey pitch was introduced and it struggled to maintain their dominance like they did on grass fields and for the first time ever returned home empty handed.
However, there was a slight flicker when in 1980 Moscow Olympics, India started their campaign with an 18–0 win over Tanzania followed by a 2–2 draw with Poland and Spain and resounding win over Cuba by a margin of 13–0 and another win over Soviet Union by a scoreline of 4–2. India went on to win the gold medal for the record 8th time by defeating Spain in the final 4–3.
But, that was the last time that India won a medal and the drought was broken in Tokyo2020 after a gap of 40 years when they won the bronze defeating Germany.
After the 1980 Olympics success India's performance declined and the following decades was one of ups and downs for the national team failing to win any medal in the World cup or Olympics , but continued to be a top team in Asia and went on to win several medals in continental competitions.
Their only gold medal success in a major tournament came in the 1985 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. India also went on to win 1991 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and reached finals of 1994 Asia Cup but lost to South Korea in the final. But India later went on to win the 1995 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
India won their first continental title after 32 years at the 1998 Asian Games by defeating South Korea. The team finished 4th at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. They ended the decade by collecting bronze medal at the 1999 Asia Cup.
It was in 2007 when the team slumped to their lowest ever ranking of 12 in FIH World Rankings. India failed to qualify for 2008 Beijing Games for the first time.
In the 2010 Commonwealth Games which was again hosted by India, the national team reached the final where they were defeated 0–8 by Australia in the final, the biggest defeat India ever suffered. In 2012 London Olympics, the team finished last as they lost all their matches.
However they improved in Rio De Janeiro in 2016 reaching the quarterfinals where they lost to Belgium 1-3 to whom they also lost in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics semifinals but by a narrower margin 1-2.
India’s performance was aptly summed up by Aslam Sher Khan who played a crucial role in India’s World Cup victory in 1975 when he said
“Itni consistency ke saath ye ladke khel gaye (The boys played with so much consistency). They deserved to win”, he said.
He felt that the current batch of Indian players were mentally very strong. This was quite visible in the bronze medal match as the Indian players were never subdued throughout the entire duration.
Although there were lots of ups and downs, the players rose to the occasion and demonstrated the will to get the medal. Not surprisingly, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh got a special mention from him.
“Hats off to all of them. Badhai ho, Khushi manaye. (Congratulations and celebrate the moment). But don’t lose the focus. Players who have age on their side should start thinking about the future tournaments and next Olympics. They have it in them to succeed”, was his message to the players.
“Honesty ke bagair revival nahin hoga” - Aslam Khan on Indian Hockey moving forward.
Nabhvarna as the Indian women's national field hockey team have been nicknamed indeed put up a superlative performance and though they lost narrowly to Great Britain in the bronze medal playoff at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but they won the hearts of the nation.
The team currently ranked 7th in the FIH World Rankings, are ranked as the best team in Asia. They have won the gold medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and 1982 Asian Games. They have also won the Women's Asia Cup twice, i.e. in 2004 and 2017. They also won the Asian Champions Trophy in 2016.
The team's breakthrough performance came at the Women's Hockey World Cup at Mandelieu in 1974, where it finished in fourth place. Their best performance in the Olympic Games was at 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics (where they came in 4th), when a women's event was held for the first time in Olympic history. The team also won the Gold medal at the inaugural 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi, defeating Korea in the finals. Captain Suraj Lata Devi led the team to the Gold for three consecutive years at different events- during the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, and the 2004 Women's Hockey Asia Cup. Team members were referred to as the "jassi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi" or the "Golden Girls of Hockey," after the 2004 win.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games Squad, led by Captain Suraj Lata Devi, entered the final where they bagged the gold beating the English team.
This event served as the inspiration for the 2007 Bollywood film about women's field hockey, Chak De! India starring Shah Rukh Khan (after screenwriter Jaideep Sahni read a short article about it. Sahni began to model the character of Kabir Khan on hockey coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik. After hearing the storyline, Kaushik suggested that Sahni meet hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi (who faced accusations of throwing the match against Pakistan during the 1982 Asian Games).
Sahni said he was unaware of Negi's tribulations while writing the script and that the resemblance with Negi's life was entirely coincidental. Negi affirmed this point stating that he didn't "want to hog the limelight. This movie is not a documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi's life. It is in fact the story of a team that becomes a winning lot from a bunch of hopeless girls". In response to the fact that the media equated Kabir Khan with Negi, Sahni said that "Our script was written a year and a half back. It is very unfortunate that something, which is about women athletes, has just started becoming about Negi."
By Sri Krishna
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