Yes, Indian hockey is back-to-back at last
The men’s hockey team delivered India’s first medal in Paris after the three shooting bronze medals in Chateauroux, beating Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match
Paris If Tokyo came as a surprise, Paris was a statement. Three years ago was no flash in the pan, and Indian hockey is warming up to its consistent medal winning ways again at the Olympics.
The men’s hockey team delivered India’s first medal in Paris after the three shooting bronze medals in Chateauroux, beating Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match. The bunch also delivered back-to-back medals in India’s rich hockey history at the Games since the twin bronze of 1968 Mexico and 1972 Munich.
Nothing lifts the collective senses of the country and rolls back years to its glory days like the good ol’ medal-winning feel in hockey. On a warm Thursday afternoon here, the medal lifted the damp mood around the Indian contingent over the last week that was exacerbated by wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s sudden disqualification.
The bronze of 2021 Tokyo came after a wait of four decades. The bronze of 2024 Paris took just another three years. It meant as much, if not more. PR Sreejesh, in his final game for India, was swamped by his team mates and pinned to the turf he called home for 24 years for seconds at length. Players sang and danced inside their dressing room, for many a new experience after winning an Olympic medal and for some — like Sreejesh, captain Harmanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh — a delightful repeat.
It was also new for head coach Craig Fulton, the South African who took charge of the Indian team after the team’s 2023 World Cup low. His voice hoarse from all the shouting from the sidelines, it had one last bit of work to do. In the final team huddle, just before the players walked off the turf as bronze medallists.
{{/usCountry}}It was also new for head coach Craig Fulton, the South African who took charge of the Indian team after the team’s 2023 World Cup low. His voice hoarse from all the shouting from the sidelines, it had one last bit of work to do. In the final team huddle, just before the players walked off the turf as bronze medallists.
{{/usCountry}}“Stay humble,” was Fulton’s message to his boys. “This is a big moment for us — to go back-to-back. But we’re not happy, even where we are. We wanted the one above. But the next best thing to do was to get this.”
{{/usCountry}}“Stay humble,” was Fulton’s message to his boys. “This is a big moment for us — to go back-to-back. But we’re not happy, even where we are. We wanted the one above. But the next best thing to do was to get this.”
{{/usCountry}}That talk probably reflects the evolved mindset of Indian hockey in the last three years. The medal in Tokyo was a pleasant surprise after 41 long years. The medal in Paris is of sustained momentum. When was the last time you could say that about Indian hockey?
{{/usCountry}}That talk probably reflects the evolved mindset of Indian hockey in the last three years. The medal in Tokyo was a pleasant surprise after 41 long years. The medal in Paris is of sustained momentum. When was the last time you could say that about Indian hockey?
{{/usCountry}}“You can say Indian hockey is back, yes,” Manpreet, who captained the team in Tokyo, said. “In the last four years, our performances have only gone up. We’ve medalled in the Olympics, Asian Games (2023, gold) and the Commonwealth Games (2022, silver).”
It wasn’t all an upward joyride, though. The Tokyo delight met with unexpected sorrow at the home World Cup last year, in which India finished a lowly ninth. It took down coach Graham Reid, and in came Fulton a little over a year ago. He put a solid, structured defence at the forefront of the playing style, brought in some fresh players and made the boys hike on the Cape Town Table Mountain and in the Swiss Alps in the company of adventurous Mike Horn for a three-day pre-Olympic camp “to become a team”.
The team’s Pro League form in the build-up phase this year was iffy, the 5-0 series thrashing by Australia a touch worrisome. But it was all building up for this. In the team Fulton trusted. And in Fulton the team did.
“That’s the number one thing to rely on — trust,” Fulton said. “We pushed through those tough times in Australia and the Pro League. We came here as underdogs. No one expected us to be in the top four.”
They did so beating Australia — some time to turn it around, isn’t it? — and taking down England playing with 10 men for more than 40 minutes. Germany in the semi-final was a little downer, before they picked themselves up for a fight to repeat the Tokyo medal.
Spain would be no pushovers, and they showed that after India had the upper hand for much of the first quarter on Thursday. A foul inside the circle earned Spain a penalty stroke, which Marc Miralles converted in the 18th minute. So solid was the Spanish defence that India hadn’t earned a single penalty corner (PC) until late in the second quarter. With 20 seconds to go, Manpreet did, and up stepped dragflicker Harmanpreet to slot it home. India’s top scorer of this Olympics, Harmanpreet got his 10th strike three minutes into the second half to banish his quiet World Cup memories at home.
Typically for Indian hockey, tense moments were reserved for the end. And it was that man again, Sreejesh, keeping it all under control with his saves, a crucial one coming off a PC with just over a minute to go.
As the clock ran down, the rush of that medal feeling returned. In Tokyo it felt a bit out of the blue. In Paris it was much more familiar.
“This medal is equally big for us,” Manpreet said. “To back up the show in Tokyo with another medal here, it’s a big deal!”
