GOOD NEWS
   Date :04-Nov-2019

 
FOR the millions of hockey fans in the country there is a good news. Both the men and women teams have booked their tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The fifth-place Indian boys’ team ensured their entry to the Olympic Games by thrashing the Russians in the two-legged FIH Qualifiers and so did the women’s team by overcoming the United States of America 6-5 aggregate score, though they had lost 1-4 in the second leg in the Qualifier played in Bhubaneswar. Both the teams, men and women, have lately shown much improvement in their international outings which has culminated into both of them qualifying for the Olympic Games to be played in Tokyo, Japan, next year. That the eight times champion boys’ team has to play qualifying games, instead of a direct entry into this prestigious sporting extravaganza, is symbolic of the decline that Indian hockey has seen over the last few decades.
 
India and Pakistan were dominant forces in international hockey, both having their roots in the glorious days of the past. And the kind of hockey they used to play was simply mesmerising for lovers of the game all over the world. The world saw legends emerging from these lands. For both countries until recently hockey was the national game and the pride of the nations. However, as the legends and great artists of hockey quit, there has been a steady decline in the standards and with it the standing of the Indian team in international arena declined. Ever since it has become nearly impossible for the Indian hockey team to win any major international tournament. That is the reason why on most occasions the Indian team has been required to play qualifying tournaments to enter major events like the Olympic Games.
 
On a few occasions the team had the ignominy of not being part of the Olympic Games. The blame is not entirely at the door of the players. It is not that talent has deserted Indian hockey. There have been quite a few extraneous factors that have affected the development of the game in the country. Politics at the administrative level of the Indian Hockey Federation, factionalism at the top level, lack of willingness to change with the times, frequent changing and chopping of the support staff, including the head coach, are some of the irritants that has harmed Indian hockey to a great extent from which it is struggling to recover. Now new coach Graham Reid exudes confidence that the team is showing great promise and hopes that it will do much better in forthcoming international events and also at the Olympic Games. There is no doubt that the current team has a number of talented players who should deliver the goods.