Test of calibre for top-ranked India

CONFIDENT Losing closely to Oz in Champions Trophy final should act as a boost for reigning champs

For a country that has bagged eight gold medals in the Olympic Games — six of them on the trot —, India have a poor record in the Asian Games, having won only three gold medals in the 67-year history of the second-most important multi-sport extravaganza in the world.

Though they have finished among medals in 14 of the 15 editions of the continental games in which hockey was played (3 gold, 9 silver, two bronze), India have failed to defend their title even once.

Each of their triumph was followed by long periods of drought — a 32-year gap from their first gold in 1966 to 1998 and 16 years from 1998 to 2014.

Harendra Singh’s resurgent team has a chance of remedying that anomaly at the Asian Games in Indonesia by defending their gold for the first time in the history of the Games.

Winning gold in Jakarta will not only help India reaffirm their supremacy in the continent but also seal a berth in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Ranked fifth in the world, India is the highest ranked team in the 11-team field and firm favourites, as eight-time champions Pakistan and four-time winners South Korea are no longer the force they once were.

India, who won gold at the Incheon Games in 2014 by defeating Pakistan 4-2 in shoot-out, have been dogged by inconsistency in recent times, though. A fourth-place finish at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, under Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne, was enough to shake the confidence of the side.

However, swapping coaches with the women’s team seems to have brought about a miraculous change in the team’s fortunes as under Harendra’s tutelage, India bagged their second successive silver medal in the Champions Trophy in Breda, the Netherlands after narrowly losing to Australia via a shoot-out in the final.

Harendra says that the result was due to an overhaul in the team’s thinking and is banking on the same spirit to succeed in the Asian Games.

“The turnaround wasn’t because of an overnight change in luck. It was due to a change in our thinking in terms of tactical awareness. We sat together and analysed our shortcomings at the Gold Coast Games, we fixed the role of each player. The boys also managed to handle the threats from opponents well,” said Harendra about how things have changed for the team. One of the reasons for the turnaround was also the return of former skipper Sardar Singh, whose presence added stability to the midfield that was lacking in Gold Coast. If the stalwart from Haryana is able to replicate his game in Jakarta, India will be able to maintain their recent level of play.

Harendra said his players will have to be at their best at Jakarta.

“You need to be mentally tough and aware of the techniques and tactics as all the teams in the world are watching you. We made many tactical changes in the team’s on-field planning at the Champions Trophy as well as during the recent Test series against New Zealand.”

Though Harendra refused to count the 13th ranked Pakistan as a threat, the arch-rivals did hold India to a draw at Gold Coast and are improving with each passing day under Roelant Oltmans.

Pakistan have always done well at the Asian Games and, therefore, can’t be counted out despite the slump in form.

They continue to be unpredictable as at the Champions Trophy, they beat Olympic champions Argentina after India had thrashed them 4-0 in the opener.