Tokyo Olympics: A Turnaround For Sure But Indian Hockey Teams Still Have Miles To Go

Obstacles don바카라�t have to stop you. If you run into a wall바카라�figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

바카라�Michael Jordan

India바카라�s hockey campaign at Tokyo 2020 exemplified and made flesh this exhortation from the American basketball legend. Given the sheer merit of the achievement and the circumstan­ces under which it came, the bronze medal won by the men바카라�s team after 41 years is comparable to India바카라�s biggest cricketing exploits. No less significant was the achievement of the women바카라�s hockey team. Rank outsiders five years ago at Rio 2016, India narrowly missed a historic bronze, but Rani Rampal바카라�s team overcame a horror start and finished as the fourth best team in the world.

바카라�No matter what medal India wins at the Olympics, until we win a medal in hockey, the country doesn바카라�t feel we have got something big,바카라� PM Narendra Modi enthused in a Mann Ki Baat broadcast. Millions agree. Eight-time champions India last won a medal (gold) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Tokyo bronze dissolved some of the accreting embarrassment around hockey and re-established India as a hockey superpower.

An acknowledgement of India바카라�s new-found status came when the internatio­nal hockey federation named the can­­didates for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21. India sparkles in an all-round show: veterans P.R. Sreejesh and Savita Punia are in contention for Goal­keeper of the Year; Harmanpreet Singh and Gurjit Kaur, both dragflickers, are in fray for the Player of the Year award.

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바카라�I feel the Tokyo bronze is a vindication of the hard work over the past 11 years. This is, however, the first step to regain the crowning glory of Olympic gold. India is all on track,바카라� says former India coach, Olympian Michael Nobbs.

Yet the hunt for an Olympic gold is made of relentless work, a pursuit that never really ends. The results in Tokyo are just another starting point to the road to Paris 2024. The hockey players are expected to be back at the national camp in Bangalore sometime in September. If the pandemic relents, and permits, they will be at the Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka (for men) and the South Korean city of Donghae (for women) in October. These will be the first test of India바카라�s new-found status. But all eyes are on 2022바카라�when the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Cup qualifiers are slotted.

If Hockey India바카라�s relationship with the Sports Authority of India remains smooth, Graham Reid should remain men바카라�s coach. The Aussie did not go home to Perth after the Games and returned to India to a rousing welcome he had 바카라�never seen before바카라�. An overseas coach is the way forward, feels Nobbs. 바카라�Have a look at across the border (Pakistan). They have believed that any Olympian can coach. How has that worked out for them? They are equally talented바카라�poor coaching and infighting has rui­ned Pakistan. This Indian team needs to press further and it바카라�s going to be harder as there is not a lot between the top six teams.바카라�

Reid agrees. 바카라�I think the boys understand that the bronze was great, but there is potential that we now need to discover, unlock and display. Australia and Belgium are consistently playing at a higher level. So that바카라�s for us is a pretty simple goal바카라�. We will analyse all the different teams and try to find out what it needs for us to go to the next level,바카라� he says.

The biggest takeaway for both Indian teams in Tokyo was the mental strength they displayed to claw back every time the chips were down. India seemed to be wrecked after the men were snowed under 7-1 by Australia and the women lost their first three matches. Then, they staged stirring turnarounds, with the women especially showing amazing grit to bounce back. 바카라�After Tokyo, we believe that on a given day we can compete with any team in the world. Never give up and fight till the last second were big lessons from the Olympics,바카라� said skipper Rani.

Nobbs lauds this immense shift in attitude. He was head coach when India finished last at London 2012, despite a gifted team. 바카라�(In Tokyo) India had two choices바카라�surrender, which many Indian teams have in the past or show the courage to step forward. To their credit they showed resilience,바카라� observes Nobbs.

Reid is setting the agenda for the next Olympic cycle; first he will have to bring the players back to reality. 바카라�Expec­tations are high...a medal is expected in hoc­key. The team-first mentality and a step-by-step approach must be retai­ned and imp­roved. The results take care of the­­m­­selves. The boys understand that.바카라� Slow, steady improvement looms marv­ellously large all of a sudden. A firecra­c­ker went off in Tokyo; now it바카라�s back to the grind. A bigger bang awaits us in Paris.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Drag The Flame")