AN OLD STORY

An old story

Editorial
The Deccan Herald

Indian hockey has to kick itself out of the morass it is
in

For the genuine Indian hockey lover, the script that
unfolded during the Champions Trophy in Amstelveen was
all too familiar. The Indians went into the most
prestigious hockey tournament outside of the Olympics and
the World Cup as one of the favourites to win the title.
In the space of a little over a week, they were witness
to some exhilarating highs and several heart-breaking
lows, but at the end of it all, Indian hockey continued
to be an enigma, doing justice to neither talent, nor
hype and expectation.

It is probably all too easy to blame the seven minutes of
mayhem and madness in their opening game against hosts
the Netherlands for their patchy run in the competition.
Up 3-0 and seemingly assured of full points, the Indians
were stunned by an amazing Dutch revival that saw the
home side clinch an unbelievable 4-3 victory. Admittedly,
it was not the first time the Indians had snatched defeat
from the jaws of victory. On the evidence of their
display in the remaining matches in the competition,
including the bronze-medal play-off against Pakistan, it
is not likely to be the last either. India's most
memorable moment was the 7-4 victory over Pakistan in
their last league encounter, a result that pushed them
into the third-place play-off when for all practical
purposes, it appeared as if they would have to fight with
a depleted German side to avoid the wooden spoon.
Trailing 2-4 midway through the second half, the Indians
stirred themselves into a virtuoso performance,
spearheaded by young guns Jugraj Singh and the
irrepressible, dynamic Gagan Ajit Singh. Gagan reinforced
the belief that India are a team full of talent. But
whether they are a talented team is a different matter
altogether.

The Champions Trophy performance has shown up the four-
nation triumph in Sydney and victory in the Hamburg
Masters tournament as false dawns. Indian hockey can't
claim to have stepped out of a self-inflicted rut, and
irrespective of what the post-mortems will throw up, it
has to be accepted that the national side has some
distance to traverse in terms of strategy and mental
strength before it can compete on a consistent basis with
major teams. World hockey, however, will do well, at the
same time, to ensure that the sanctity of the Champions
Trophy is not undermined by allowing teams to field
experimental, development sides like the Germans did this
time.

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