New Indian Express: Current team best after Class of 2000: Harendra
BENGALURU: The 2000 Sydney Olympics was the best chance India had to bag a hockey medal after their gold at the Moscow Games in 1980. Of course, the latter event had a depleted field owing to the fact that several western nations had boycotted it.
The 2000 Olympics team — with the likes of Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dilip Tirkey, Baljit Singh Saini, Mohammad Riaz and several other star players — was in top shape. But an unfortunate 1-1 draw with Poland put paid to their hopes of a semifinal spot. Had they reached the last-four stage, the frame of mind of the team was known to be such at that point that a medal was almost assured.
Indian hockey has steadily declined since then, with the lowest point being India’s failure to qualify for the Beijing Games in 2008. However, performances in the recent past have raised hope. A silver at the Champions Trophy may not be an absolute indicator, but it has certainly thrown up hints that the team is in decent shape.
Harendra Singh, deputy to chief coach V Baskaran in 2000, opined that things are looking better again with the current crop. “We were very close to getting a medal in Sydney. I feel that we have to accept that there was failure on our part. That was one of the finest teams I’ve coached,” said Harendra, now in charge of the junior team.
“I think after that squad, this is one of the best teams we have produced in terms of skill, execution, formation and also fitness. For the first time, they dominated Australia in the fourth quarter.
“They’ve never been dominated by any country. I think this team has a very fair chance of standing on the podium,” remarked Harendra at the Sports Authority of India (SAI). “In 2000, I feel that we failed strategically. But now, we have (Roelant) Oltmans. He’s a master tactician.”
It is not just the senior players who have shown promise. Hockey India has been conducting training sessions for both junior and senior squads together. “The senior and junior teams have never trained together so far in Indian hockey,” Harendra explained. “When juniors train with seniors, they learn and their confidence level improves. This has reduced the gap between the two teams.”
The junior team will tour England and Germany in July — preparation for the Junior World Cup later this year. “We are the hosts. I want to be where the whole country wants us to be. We were the hosts last time too, but the result was not what we expected. Right now, we are very close to where we want to be,” Harendra stated.