Resurgent India need to prove their mettle
World No 9 women’s side is topranked in the competition as it chases gold
Over the last few years, Indian women’s hockey has made rapid progress to earn a place in the top 10, joining the elite after a long gap. A wellplanned schedule of tournaments and camps mixed with exposure trips has seen the team garner some encouraging results as was evident at the recently concluded World Cup in London, where the team finished eighth, an improvement of one place from their previous participation in 2010 (India did not qualify in 2014).
The encouraging performance at the World Cup, coming after a disastrous Commonwealth Games show, followed the team’s superb triumph in the Asia Cup in 2017, which contributed to the team’s recent resurgence.
The World Cup experience would matter a lot to the players as, coming after their 2017 Asia Cup success, it has propelled the team to ninth position — making them the highest ranked team in Asia and thus favourites to bag their second gold in the Asian Games after 1982. However, the World Cup in London also exposed the chinks in the team’s armour — inconsistent display and need for overall improvement in attack and penalty corner execution. In London, the team was off to a rousing start, holding World No 2 England to a 1-1 draw. India, actually, held the advantage before succumbing to pressure and conceding the equaliser. In their second game, India fell to a 0-1 defeat to Ireland but a come-from-behind 1-1 draw against the United States in a must-win encounter saw them qualify for the crossover pre-quarterfinals. They came up with their best performance in the tournament against Italy, winning 3-0. India met their nemesis Ireland once again and though this time they came up with an improved performance, India succumbed to nerves in the penalty shoot-out to lose 3-1.
If the biggest takeaway from the World Cup was the superb performance by goalkeeper Savita Punia and the emergence of Haryana youngster Neha Goyal, who scored two goals in five matches, it also brought out the team’s shortcomings.
The girls are catching up with the world’s best in speed, stamina and strength, but they still have to improve on in-game tactical shifts to counter ’ strategic superiority. India’s inability to convert penalty corners is a concern.
During the 2018 Commonwealth Games, they couldn’t convert a single penalty corner out of five in the bronzemedal match against England and their defence cracked under pressure in the final quarter as they slumped to a 0-6 defeat against a team they had beaten 2-1 in the preliminary league.
India thus missed a medal at the Commonwealth Games for the third successive edition. At the Asian Games, the Indians will take heart from their performances at the 2017 Asia Cup in Japan when they bested favourites China 5-4 with Savita producing a stunning save in shoot-out. Winning gold at the Asian Games will extend their recent resurgence and also help them improve their world ranking.
Rani Rampal and Co. have to be at their best in Jakarta as another inconsistent show will not only see them miss their target of regaining the Asian Games gold but also push them down in world rankings.