41 (57) YEAR WAIT ENDS

It was the 26th day of July in 1976. Eight days earlier, India had opened the 1976 Summer Olympics tournament with a thumping 4-0 win over Argentina brushing aside concerns of their famed long pass game not being conducive on Astroturf. They were immediately given a reality check as Netherlands brushed them aside 3-1 & Australia destroyed them 6-1. India were in danger of not reaching the semifinals for the first time ever in their Olympic history. They had medalled every single time since they first took part in Pot Town 48 years earlier. 

Even though India's destiny was out of their hands, they took gītācārya's message to heart and did their duties to the utmost and won their remaining matches. Netherlands first did India a favour by defeating the Kookaburras by a solitary goal and then Los Leones completely upset the apple cart by eking out a 3-2 win over the Aussies handing India a lifeline. Having finished level on points, India & Australia contested a 2nd place play-off match to determine who would qualify for the semis along with the Dutch. With 2 mins to go for halftime, Ric Charlesworth gave Australia the lead. surjīt sinh raṁdhāvā equalized almost immediately and the teams would remain deadlocked for another 55 minutes. India lost the penalty shootout 4-5 and for the 1st time ever would finish outside the top 4. 

Till hockey was played on grass, India had never failed to win a medal. Played 10, 7 golds, 1 silver, 2 bronzes. Indian dominance had begun to wane 8 years earlier having failed to win both semifinals of the Mexico City & Munich Olympics. Thanks to the entire Western Bloc and its minion Pakistan boycotting the Moscow Olympics, India managed to add another gold to its tally but India kept getting progressively worse at every Olympics before the ultimate humiliation in 2008: failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Somehow finishing last in London 4 years later felt even worse than the failure to qualify for it.

Things didn't get much better in 2014 at the World Cup in The Hague. A very young, inexperienced Indian team finished 9th. The team showed steady improvement in the Asian Games, Hockey World League & the penultimate Champions Trophy, where India played their nemesis, Australia so close & lost a heartbreaker in penalty shootouts. Dare I say, India were the darkest of horses to end a 36 year old medal drought at Olympics & World Cups in Rio. India played well for large parts of the tournament. Lost a heartbreaker to Germany with a literally last second goal. Had 7 penalty corners, at least 3 of them after the hooter, to draw level against Netherlands but failed to power through and floundered into the last 8 after drawing an eminently winnable match against Canada. The up & down form was no more evident in the quarterfinal against Belgium which India lost 3-1 from a goal up.

Few months after Rio, the Colts won the Junior World Cup after 15 years. The previous champions were one of the most talented bunch ever: arjun halappā, virēn resquinha, jugrāj sinh, prabhjōt sinh, dīpak ṭhākur, gagan ajīt sinh. They had shown steady progress by doing well in Champions Trophy, winning silver in Incheon Asiad and winning Asia Cup for the first time but due to various reasons, on & off the court mostly the latter, they couldn't kick on to make great things.

On the strength of another very talented bunch: harmanprīt sinh, nīlakaṇṭha śarma, mandīp sinh, simranjīt sinh, vikās dahiyā, sumit, kṛṣan pāṭhak, gurjant sinh and veterans like manprīt sinh, sunīl, lalit upādhyāy, ākāśdīp sinh, śrījēś, surēndar kumār, bīrendra lākra, amit rōhidās, 2018 promised a lot and India again played their nemesis even closer than the last time in the last Champions Trophy and again lost on shootout. This was followed by a disastrous Asian Games campaign where India lost in the semis to Malaysia on PSOs conceding a last minute equalizer. Redemption was possible in the home World Cup where India topped the group ahead of Belgium but ended up losing in the quarterfinals (with Yours Truly in the stadium), again from a goal up against eventual finalists Netherlands.

A lot passed between the World Cup & the Tokyo Olympics, not the least the cataclysmic coronavirus that virtually reset the world but India travelled to Tokyo hoping to conquer it and make it 2/2. After a sluggish start against New Zealand due to lack of match practice, India were eviscerated by their nemesis again sowing seeds of doubt. But this team was built different. It had a certain resilience, a belligerence and a never say die attitude. Spain, Argentina & hosts Japan were dispatched with relative ease to finish 2nd in the group to setup a quarterfinal clash against Great Britain.

A pedant would've said it was 41 years since India won a knockout round match in an Olympics but with no Netherlands, no Germany, no Australia and no Pakistan, the reigning World Champions, it was a hollow title. India won a true knockout match way back in 1964 beating Australia 3-1 to reach the finals of the Tokyo Olympics. India began cagily but in control. A few minutes into the game, India started their famed forward press to assert their control. simranjīt nicked the ball off Ian Sloan just outside the D, drew defenders toward him & slipped dilprīt in, who showed his striker's instincts to trap the ball with his back to the goal & nutmegged Ollie Payne to give India the lead.

The quarter passed without much incident and just after the second quarter began, India's "Gegenpress" doubled the advantage. śamśēr pressed Ian Sloan on the wing at the halfway line who had nowhere to go and played the ball to the full back Liam Sanford. Sanford tried to play an outlet pass to the midfielder and the ever alert hārdik pounced on it and found gurjant inside the circle marked by Sanford himself. The burly striker spun off his marker and swept the ball through Ollie Payne's legs again to make it 2-0. India were in dreamland. 

The custodian śrījēś had little to do in the 1st half as India went into the break with no change in the score. Great Britain increased the tempo in the 3rd quarter as India went into a bit of a shell. Just before the end of the 3rd quarter, a sustained period of British pressure saw them win 3 short corners in a row. With 7 seconds left in the quarter, Sam Ward just about scraped the ball over the line to halve the deficit. The final quarter went much in the same fashion. India withstood wave after wave of British attacks. Some defender or the other kept picking up the slack. The Wall stood firm in every set piece situation.

 

India were handed a body blow with 6:32 left when El Capitan manprīt recklessly picked up a yellow card trying to cut off a pass. To add insult to injury, this act even conceded a penalty corner. śrījēś stood firm yet again and rallied the troops without the Talismanic skipper. Great Britain were relentless. India's shoulders were dropping but the spirit wasn't. With the entire British team camped inside or near the Indian D, vivēk stole the ball from Wallace and quickly found harmanprīt. The short corner specialist saw the field open up and slid the ball towards hārdik. The midfielder went on mazy run with nīlakaṇṭha pushing up in support in a 2 on 2 situation. hārdik turned his marker, the British captain Adam Dixon and swept the ball towards the goal. Payne saved with his foot and the rebound fell kindly to hārdik again, who didn't need a second invitation and tonked it home with 3:25 left. 

The entire bench erupted in joy. The Men In Blue withstood a barrage of attacks, a man down for 6 minutes & counting in two sittings and just as it seemed they were running out of gas showed tremendous fortitude to run the length of the field to bury the contest to end a 5741 year drought of a knockout round win. The goal broke the will of the Brits and they never even had a sniff on goal despite taking their keeper off and playing with 11 outfield players. In their desperation they even had a player yellow carded with little under 2 minutes left. The youngest member of the Indian side, vivēk had a golden opportunity to make it 4 too but it didn't matter. India wouldn't be denied.

 

When the hooter blew many players fell to the ground. The Indian team had endured so many last minute heartbreaks over the previous 3-4 years. They were called mentally weak, lacking killer instinct. They had to train under the cloud of the vile virus. They fought so many demons on the field, off the field, in their minds but ultimately they did it. It was well worth the wait. India were in the semifinals of the Olympics for the 1st time in 49 years. They faced Belgium next and even briefly led 2-1 but the emotional victory over Great Britain was too much to overcome and the World Champions eventually added the Olympic gold to the resume of their Golden Generation. 

The team looked physically and emotionally exhausted after the semifinal loss but this was no ordinary team. They were fighters and bounced back like no other and bounce back they did in the bronze medal play-off but that's a story for another day. For now let us celebrate the 1st anniversary of this glorious milestone.