1991
Once-indomitable India were forced to endure the ignominy of qualifying for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Pakistan made the grade by virtue of winning the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. India were compelled to take the long route to Barcelona and, with Pargat Singh as captain and Balkishen Singh as coach, travelled to Auckland, New Zealand, for the first ever Olympic qualifier in 1991.
The critics who lamented the fall from grace of Indian hockey were in for a further shock. The team put up a pathetic show and at one stage it appeared that a spot in Barcelona was out of reach.
Morale was low even before the event commenced. En route to New Zealand, India were thrashed in two test matches against Australia. Tennis scores such as 1-6 and 3-6 rattled the team and it never quite recovered from those shocks.
India huffed and puffed in Auckland, beating Switzerland 3-1 and Belgium 1-0 before drawing 0-0 with France. Then followed a shock 2-3 defeat to Malaysia and India were clutching at the straws.
India needed a huge favour by Malaysia, who had already made sure of their berth in the Olympics, to stay in contention.
The Malaysians who had won four matches in a row duly obliged by beating Belgium 5-2
1996
Although India qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with plenty to spare, allegations of match fixing at the Olympic Qualifiers in Barcelona tainted a fine performance by the team.
The roles were reversed and this time around Malaysia needed a favour from India who had notched up four straight wins just as their Asian rivals had in 1991.
India scored a majestic 4-1 win against The Netherlands to qualify in style. The concluding league match against Malaysia was a mere formality for India but it mattered a lot to their adversaries and an anxious Canada looking on.
A draw was good enough for Malaysia but Canada were praying for an Indian win.
A tame draw incensed Canada and the North Americans smelled a rat.
Canada, who ironically played in the Indo-Pan American Friendship Hockey Cup six months prior in Chandigarh, turned foes and lodged a protest against India with the FIH. Quoting match statistics and an Indian informer, Canada alleged that the India-Malaysia match was fixed.
In its written accusation dated February 6, 1996, which the FIH took cognizance of, Canada sought “the match result of the India-Malaysia game declared null and void, both teams to be suspended, not be allowed to take part in the Olympics and the change in the standings of the Olympic Qualifier to reflect the same”.
Canada in particular accused secretaries of both the Indian and Malaysian hockey federations, six Indian players (Pargat Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Harpreet Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Saini, Sanjeev Kumar), and one S.R. Bhaskaran, who was part of the Indian delegation, of being involved in the “fixing”.
Canada quoted the statistical profile of the India-Malaysia match (India’s zero penalty corner, just one shot at goal, entering the rival ‘D’ only twice…) and an Indian player’s advance information passed on to a Canadian player (Robin D’Abreo) as proof.
Canada strongly relied on the Tournament Director’s remark in his report: ‘The course of this match gives the impression that there was an arrangement between both teams not to score a goal.’
On February 8, the FIH reconstituted its Disciplinary Committee as a Malaysian (Sultan Azlan Shah) and German (Michael Krause) were its chairman and secretary. The German had to go as Malaysia then had a German (Volker Knapp) as coach.
India provided written affidavits of six players, IHF Secretary, SR Bhaskaran and coach Cedric D’Souza; so also five Malaysian players and their officials. Canada sent affidavits from five of its players and a host of officials including its coach Shiaz Virjee, an NRI. Copies of these affidavits are with this writer even now.
India strongly refuted the accusation in its reply to the FIH dated February 24.
The enquiry committee comprising Peter Cohen (Australia), Steve Jaspan (South Africa), Joaquim Dualde (Spain), Pierre Belmer (France) and Paul Litjens (The Netherlands) summoned concerned parties to Belgium, where the FIH was headquartered.
Then, on March 2, India was represented by KPS Gill, KTS Tulsi, then Solicitor General of India, V.S. Jafa, a lawyer, and HS Kharbanda, the manager.
Thankfully for India, the FIH ruled in its favour quoting lack of concrete proof. KTS Tulsi charged the IHF Rs 1 lakh for his service, which the IHF paid four years later!
2004
The last Olympic Qualifier of this format that India played was at Madrid in 2004. Controversy rocked the event as the iconic Dhanraj Pillay was sidelined from the squad on the eve of the team departure.
Without him, the team struggled before barely making it to Athens, defeating both Malaysia and Canada on its way.
Unlike the past, the qualifier format has been changed in 2006 with only the winner of the three Qualifiers making it to Beijing. This proved to be a tricky path for some strong nations.
India’s first step towards Madrid turned into a controversy. In fact, this event was known for leaving Dhanraj Pillay not called for the preparatory camp. It resulted in a nationwide protest. Television channels beamed protests taking place at every sporting centres.
Dhanraj eventually was reinstated but only after the Qualifier.
At Madrid, without Pillay in their ranks, the team, led by Baljit Singh Dhillon, struggled before barely making it to the Greek capital, defeating both Malaysia and Canada on its way.
2008
Much was at stake for Indian men’s hockey in 2008. The team missed the bus for direct qualification to the Beijing Olympics after a disastrous result at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
For the first time ever, India fell out of the medal bracket after failing to make the semifinals of the tournament eventually won by South Korea.
As a result, the team had to qualify via a tricky Olympic qualifier.
Three groups of six teams each would produce one qualifying nation to the Games and it made for a daunting challenge.
India found themselves in a group played in Santiago, Chile.
The FIH announced the teams for the three Olympic Qualifiers in September 2007. Based on the world ranking, India were allotted a spot in the Chilean capital where the qualifying group would be played in March 2008.
It boiled down to a battle between India and Great Britain – clearly nations head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
Great Britain, inventors of modern hockey, have to their credit three Olympic gold medals while India have eight.
However, neither nation attained respectable placings in their respective continental championships.
Great Britain represented by England, finished a poor sixth at the Barcelona European Nations Cup, an event at which the top three teams received direct entry to the Games.
Once the Qualifiers were announced, the focus shifted to the teams’ preparation for the big event. India pinned hopes on hosting the Champions Trophy, which was originally allotted to Pakistan.
The FIH was compelled to move the event as several participating nations expressed security concerns. Malaysia’s bid was then accepted. Malaysia also had the same compelling reasons as that of India to stage the event as they were preparing for their Olympic Qualifier.
Malaysia featured in Gifu, Japan, where they played their Qualifier with Germany as company.
The Champions Trophy, normally a six-team event, included a seventh because of the new hosts. The FIH, however, extended the field to eight as they brought in England.
The world body’s logic was that England were the fifth- placed team in the last World Cup.
England would not have been in the field had the event not moved from Lahore. England were not in the original line-up and their presence in Kuala Lumpur was perceived to be an unfair advantage.
However, England did exceeding well in the Champions Trophy, even defeating strong teams. The English obviously gained a lot being in the company of the world’s best. Besides, they played a number of international matches against other teams in the run- up to Chile but they gained significantly from the Kuala Lumpur sojourn.
On the other hand, India engaged Belgium in a five-match series, all in one city (Chennai), before embarking upon a training session in Perth, Australia. The touring Indians engaged strong domestic teams and China in friendly matches.
In Chile, the Indian team did not look a champion side from the beginning. Every team easily tested their defence while the forwards did not show the type of precision expected of them.
India also lost to Great Britain in the league, conceding the winner minutes before the hooter. It seems the late goals rattled the team’s confidence as the latter events would prove.
India however defeated the hosts to enter the final.
On March 9 — in the wee hours of March 10 in India — both contenders fought for the coveted Beijing ticket.
England scored two goals early on and successfully defended their lead. India briefly came alive the second half but wasted chances they created.
Overall, it was right to state that the Indians did not measure up to the task.
India did not make use of four penalty corners they earned in the second half as they seemed to be too much in a hurry.
Coach Joaquim Carvalho castigated umpires and the Technical Delegates for ‘psyching’ his team. Whatever the reasons, the galling fact was that India missed the Olympics for the first time ever in 80 years of participation.
It was a disastrous day for Indian hockey and a sad one for hockey in general. The sport celebrated its 100th year at the Olympics without its most illustrious nation.
2012: It was a cakewalk as format changed. India won one of the 6-team Qualifiers Finals in Delhi, beating France 8-1 in the finals with Sandeep Singh, who was recently elected to the Haryana assembly, striking four goals.