Busan(South Korea): The best team should win the top honours, and so the Chinese. They deserved the gold, every bit of it. They were simply outstanding in all departments of the game especially in defence. They conceded just one goal in two encounters against the 4-time gold medallists, Korea. The Korean forwards, known for their all-round ability, could not pierce the tough and tactically superior Chinese’ rearguards. Their defence was veritable the China Wall.

This was Chinese’s maiden gold at the Asian Games six attempts. At Bangkok in the last edition, we defeated them 2-1 with the winning goal coming from me. China has since made vast strides. The Korean trainer, who had been coaching them for the last couple of years, seemed to wield a magical wand.

Chinese were simply a bundle of energy. They kept on out-running all their rivals. It’s always difficult to contain such a fit team for all the seventy minutes. Their slim frame and commando type physical training they undergo round the years are their mantra of success.

Busan was one of the sadest moments of my life to see the other three teams on the podium after the final.

Saddest because after our Commonwealth Games triumph, we just did not imagine this would happen to us.

China won the Champions Trophy beating the very same teams that we beat at Manchester, so when you suddenly realize that there is a big difference between a team like China and us, it comes as a rude shock.

But we have our lessons to be learnt from this tournament.

These other Asian teams-China, South Korea and Japan have improved tremendously. The reason being more exposure and better coaching. If they lack in the flair for stickwork, they more than make up by sheer power and stamina.

These countries play more international matches than us. There are various three or four-nation tournaments that they play and steel themselves up for bigger events like the Champions Trophy and Asian Games.

On the other hand, we’ve played very few games against them even though we’ve played against European teams.

Also, there coaches get to see more teams in action. China’s coach was there to see the world cup qualifying matches when his team was not even playing. He was there to watch other teams in action. Is that something we can imagine in our country ?

We’ve to be more professional to do well consistently in international events. We should also have more tournaments to play in and keep in touch with changing trends. Otherwise, the triumphs like at Manchester will be few and far between. Inspiration can’t always win you events. Hard work and methodical training can.

Fitness is another aspect that we need to work on. Otherwise, the difference between other teams and ours will be too much to bridge even with our knack for the game. Modern hockey is more about power and stamina. The game is really fast and we have to compete with the best in these departments.

As for our team, we looked stale on the field. Like I said, our forward-line was not a shadow of what it has been over the past few months. I’m not blaming others, even I struggled upfront. So how do you get goals ?

What made China a better team than the rest was their better strategy, fitness and agility on the field. They played a real tight game and stuck to their plan.

We lack in these aspects. I think it’s time for introspection and to work out a better calender and training for our players.

The Games went on without much of umpiring hassles unlike Manchester. However, it cannot be said for the final. The Japanese umpire did not appear to be convincing in her decisions. She consulted the other umpire before awarding the first goal to China and again a goal for China awarded though their defender Kang Fu failed to convert the stroke. In the umpire’s view, the goalkeeper moved before the stroke was taken. It’s difficult to say whether the goalie moved first or Kang Fu delayed her shot. A hard decision for the defending side to stomach. Otherwise the umpiring has been steady.

Yes, we failed to meet the expectations. It’s first time in my long career we were considered title favourites. It seems we could not just cope up with this kind of pressure. We have not performed to our potential, even half. I will not dwell into the `why and how’ of it except that we have to live with this failure for our life time.

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