Indian Hockey: Rest in Peace?

Pratik Dogra

India’s disgraceful performance at the Olympic qualifiers in Chile and the subsequent ouster from the Beijing event has come as a blot from the blue for an average Indian. Fed on wonder tales of the legendry Dhyan Chand’s artistry and the Golden era when India notched up 6 consecutive Gold medals in the sport, the prospect of having to qualify for the event was unthinkable and not qualifying…outlandish. As the nation comes to grip with the humiliating reality, a closer look at India’s recent performances suggest, the bolt may have not been exactly from the blue. The writing had been on the wall, we didn’t read it …or perhaps chose not to.

The decline in India’s fortune was pragmatic. From being the ‘First among Equals’, the undisputed champions, we were reduced to challengers. The entire 90’s was spent playing catch up to the emerging Europeans. The start of the decade saw India relegated to competing with nations like China and Japan, just to earn a right to participate with the best. And now, the national sport of the country hits the rock bottom. India, an eight time Olympic gold medalist, for all its former glory, clubbed with teams like Chile, Austria and Great Britain has failed to qualify for Olympics. Here’s how the great Olympic fall came about… 1928 Amsterdam: Gold An awe-struck Dutch journalist wrote "The Indian ball seems ignorant of the laws of gravity. One of those tanned diabolical jugglers stares at the ball intently; it gets upright and remains suspended in the air. This is no longer the game of hockey. It is a juggling turn. It is splendid." 1932 Los Angles: Gold Los Angeles sports journalists voted the Indian hockey team`s showing as "the most outstanding exhibition of skill in any sport in the Olympics. 1936 Berlin: Gold India mesmerised Germany 8-1 in the finals in front of 40000 spectators. At a dinner party after the final, Hitler offered to elevate Dhyan Chand to the rank of a Colonel if he migrated to Germany. Ever the patriot, Dhyan Chand turned down the offer. 1948 London: Gold The London Olympics were the first event that independent India participated in. India`s national flag fluttered proudly as India overwhelmed their former colonial masters 4-0 in the finals. This was the first occasion when the National flag was displayed and national anthem, Jana Gana Mana played at an Olympic venue, at Wembley. India’s world dominance continued through the 1950’s, though occasionally challenged by arch-rivals. Pakistan. 1952 Helsinki: Gold 1956 Melbourne: Gold The captivating stick work and the frequent dodge enchanted the fans and opponents alike, to such an extent that the basic dribble skill was named the `Indian dribble` after their exploit in the 1956 Olympics. 1960 Rome: Silver; lost to Pakistan 1-0. India’s Golden run was finally halted, by none other than their neighbours and fierce rivals. 1964 Tokyo: Gold; The hiatus from the top was brief. India avenged the Rome loss and recaptured their gold beating Pakistan 1-0 So dominant was the Indian hockey team of old that it took 28 years for India to score only 1 goal in a match (India 1 - Germany 0 in the 1956 Olympic semi-final), and it took 40 years before a country scored more than one goal against India in the Olympics (New Zealand 2 - India 1 in the 1968 Olympics).1968 Mexico City: Bronze 1972 Munich: Bronze By seventies the world was beginning to catch with India. An Olympic gold was no longer for taking. The shift from grass to astro turf hit both the sub continent giants India and Pakistan badly. Teams like West Germany, Australia and Netherlands had made rapid strides. As the dynamics of the game changed, Indian hockey was caught napping. Since then, India has been playing catch-up to the rest. 1976 Montreal: Seventh 1980 Moscow: Gold The sheen of this gold however paled as many of the strong contenders chose to boycott the games. 1984 Los Angles: Fifth 1988 Seoul: Sixth The late eighties and early nineties saw India’s continental supremacy threatened, by South Korea. The speedy Koreans got better of the Indians on more occasions than one. India was beginning to lose its grip. 1992 Barcelona: Seventh 1996: Atlanta: Eight 2000: Sydney: Seventh The new decade heralded an era of survival. India had to fight to survive. Olympic medals were a distant dream. Victories over the likes of Argentina and Poland were celebrated with pomp. 2004: Athens: Seventh 2008: Beijing: Did not Qualify With India hitting the rock bottom, the worst fears have come true. Resignations are being tendered. Blame game has begun. Scapegoats are being looked for. Indian hockey bites the dust. It’s time to rise from the ashes and be reborn like the Phoenix to claim back the glory and to be at the top of the hockey fraternity’s pinnacle.