A yr because the Indian hockey groups regained house within the nationwide consciousness with distinctive performances on the Tokyo Olympics, the Birmingham Commonwealth Video games (CWG) have served a reminder that sports activities isn’t a mathematical equation with a single particular resolution. However, an uncertain science with each permutation and course of throwing up new outcomes.
Additionally Learn: India wins silver in males’s hockey, loses 0-7 to Australia in remaining at Commonwealth Video games 2022
When it comes to remaining standings, each the women and men went one higher on their Olympic finishes – the ladies successful bronze for his or her first CWG medal in 16 years and the lads returning with a 3rd silver from the competitors in 4 editions. The outcomes had been as anticipated, the performances not a lot.
The Aussie Dominance
The most important elephant within the room, after all, stays Australia. The chief at CWG over years by a good margin can be probably the most dominant facet in hockey since being included in 1998. Whereas the ladies have received 4 of the seven editions thus far, the lads have swept previous opposition all seven instances. That’s a mammoth 24-year reign that exhibits no indicators of letting up. The Australians had been additionally the unsurmountable impediment for each Indian groups this time round, the ladies within the semifinals and the lads within the remaining.
Monitoring the Journey
The similarities within the Indian males’s and ladies's groups journey over the previous yr are a number of: dropping key members to retirement or accidents, ending third within the Asia Cups with junior gamers, ending third within the FIH Professional League and ending in fourth place at
the Junior World Cups. They've additionally misplaced a big a part of the assist employees that labored with the groups as much as and on the Olympics though the chief coaches – Graham Reid for males and Janneke Schopman for girls – ensured there was a welcome continuity on the prime. Not surprisingly, the efficiency and progress have adopted the same course of and so have the challenges.
Marijne Opines
“For me, the great factor is that the women are getting dominant in opposition to different groups. They're taking cost and happening the assault, which is superb,” former coach Sjoerd Marijne stated. Marijne, who was in control of the staff at Tokyo, has not stopped following the staff’s fortunes since then and has been persistently supportive of their performances.
Street to Semifinals
At Birmingham, the Indian girls had been anticipated to make the semifinals and so they duly did however not with out hiccups. The beginning wasn’t auspicious, Navjot Kaur examined Covid-19 optimistic and was compelled to fly again.
The opening video games in opposition to Ghana and Wales had been snug however the staff appeared disjointed and with no plan, relying extra on their superior expertise. Mockingly, the one recreation India misplaced within the group stage – to host England – was additionally its finest efficiency by way of executing a recreation plan and enjoying as a unit.
Additionally Learn: Indian girls’s hockey, Commonwealth Video games, 20 years in the past: The gold that paved the trail
It took a particular effort from Lalremsiami to get previous Canada and guarantee a semifinal spot however it was additionally indicative of how the staff may collectively change off in crunch moments that will come again to hang-out it later. In opposition to stronger groups, it could be a catastrophe, one thing India skilled on the World Cup two weeks earlier than the CWG, ending ninth. The lack to attain after all of the onerous work within the center was a priority whereas the largest let-down was India’s penalty nook conversion with Gurjit Kaur seemingly unable to discover a strategy to rating regardless of a truckload of PCs created.
The Indian girls’s staff suffered a controversial loss in opposition to Australia within the Commonwealth Video games 2022. | Picture Credit score: Getty Photos
“I feel it's not honest in charge Gurjit solely. It's getting increasingly tough to attain from penalty corners for all groups, together with The Netherlands who've at all times been superb in it, not simply India. The runners are getting higher, each the primary and second runners and with the goalkeeper protecting one angle and runners the opposite, it leaves hardly any house to take the shot with out getting harmful,” Marijne countered.
The Australian hurdle, which India famously surmounted in Tokyo, noticed its justifiable share of controversy earlier than India blanked out within the shoot-out however to be honest, India’s tenaciousness may solely take it thus far in opposition to a facet that was clearly the higher one on the day. It seemed to be one other case of so-near-yet-so-far when New Zealand struck 18 seconds from time however there was no denying goalkeeper-captain Savita Punia this time. The staff, regardless of the absence of Rani Rampal appears to be heading in the right direction en path to its subsequent huge goal – the Asian Video games subsequent yr – and there's no denying the likelihood that the talismanic former captain received’t be again.
Males's journey to podium
For the lads, it wasn’t such a roller-coaster experience until the very finish. Their path was a lot smoother, the one hurdle being a draw in opposition to England within the group stage after being 4-1 up, conceding three objectives within the final quarter-hour. It was additionally one recreation that noticed the Indians at their worst, each by way of efficiency and self-discipline. The staff, for as soon as, appeared to have collectively misplaced it within the thoughts on the sphere.
Whereas the English had been equally responsible – the England males’s staff, in truth, was the worst offender this version with 15 playing cards earned by 10 totally different gamers, greater than every other facet – it was a throwback to the Indian sides, greater than a decade in the past and never a great one. Fortuitously, the staff appeared to have learnt its lesson and went again to give attention to its recreation as an alternative.
The semifinal in opposition to South Africa was a tough affair and proved why enjoying a lower-ranked facet that depends upon stubborn, disciplined defence and fast sneaks into counter-attacks may be so harmful. It was not the most effective from India however it was a much better present in protecting frustrations in test to enter the ultimate and making certain a medal after lacking out on the rostrum 4 years in the past.
India’s hockey efficiency in Commonwealth Video games
The ultimate, after all, was a catastrophe. The gamers have admitted being unable to play their very own recreation and falling into the Australian lure, being damage at dropping the gold and committing errors they shouldn’t have. The 7-0 scoreline may counsel Indian males’s hockey stays caught in time, rekindling the nightmare of the 8-0 loss in 2010. However it’s as a lot a testomony to the Australian domination as to India’s incapability to interrupt the psychological block in huge tournaments.
The Australian Conundrum
As per official data, the closest India has come to defeating Australia in a serious event – barring take a look at matches or the Professional League – was on the Champions Trophy in 2018 when Australia received on penalties. One must return to 2014 Azlan Shah
Cup to discover a beneficial end result for India and that has historically been a season-opening event for many sides to check new faces. The final time they met in a serious occasion was Tokyo 2021, with India dropping 1-7.
Dissecting what went flawed isn’t attainable just because India would have needed to play to a plan to fault it. It was traditional Australian hockey – quick, open, one-touch, ruthless. They went for the jugular early and by no means took the toes off the pedal. Opening up house within the
midfield and defence at will, wrong-footing the defenders, shaking off marksmen with a twist and switch, the waves by no means stopped coming. For the youthful gamers within the Indian facet, it was a harsh lesson in realising that world domination was a good distance off.
In opposition to every other staff, nonetheless, the Indians have confirmed to be greater than a match, particularly in health. Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand and even Belgium on events have struggled to maintain tempo regardless of their naturally superior bodily body and top. The staff
has managed to not sit again on its laurels post-Olympics and the benefit of a giant group of probables coaching collectively for years has been seen within the Professional League with newer faces like Abhishek, Jugraj Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, Yashdeep Siwach and Rajkumar Pal displaying promising outcomes.
Now, if solely they might discover a strategy to break the Australian jinx.
