New Indian Express: Post tricky period, Asia in Pocket as India Eye World
By Swaroop Swaminathan
CHENNAI: The Indian senior hockey team have been amongst the wars of late. They lost the Hockey India League for a year, Hockey India withdrew the side from the upcoming Pro League and they lost their chief coach Roelant Oltmans all in the last couple of months. So when the team headed out to Dhaka for the Asia Cup earlier this month, the team might have been excused if they were feeling a touch nervous. Things had not gone to plan and under a new coach – Sjoerd Marijne – it was understandable to have a touch of apprehension. However the team once again underlined why they are the best in Asia with an assured display right across the park. Pakistan were beaten twice and bogey-team Malaysia were handed a pummeling as well.
The most pleasing aspect of the win was not the title itself — it was very expected — but the way in which the team went about achieving it. Team spirit and hard work were very much part of the ethos and each and every member of the team contributed at some stage or the other. A fact that wasn’t lost on the captain Manpreet Singh. Immediately after they won the title for the first time in a decade, an HI media official requested Manpreet Singh to give a few bytes for social media.
The captain kept revisiting a word throughout the impromptu talk. Team. “I am delighted because we played really well as a team,” he said. “Lots of hard work have gone into the victory. The forward and the defensive line exhibited lots of teamwork. It was extra sweet because Sunday happened to be Satbir Singh’s birthday. So I dedicate the win to Satbir as well.”
That kind of bromance, while not new, is heartening. India’s hockey players have long been accused of putting individuals over the sport but here was the captain sending a strong message — team trumps over everything. Crucially, this wasn’t corporate speak. The stats bear him out. They scored the most number of goals (28), Harmanpreet Singh won the joint-top goalscorer award (seven) but a lot of others joined in the fun. In all, there were 11 of the 18 players struck goals — the most by an Indian team at a single tournament for quite sometime. In the absence of Rupinderpal Singh, the importance of Harmanpreet’s drag-flicking abilities is paramount but he was well aware of his defensive responsibilities as well. “He not only gave us goals but played an important role in defense,” Manpreet said.
There is another reason why team cohesion will gain prominent importance under the new man Sjoerd Marijne. Given HI has radically altered the direction of the side — a player-driven, coach-assisted system is going to be new mantra — the early numbers will please the Dutchman, who was parachuted as coach in curious circumstances following the sacking of Oltmans in September. Marijne himself was happy to see the number of different players who sounded the board. “Leadership in the team was very positive,” he told Sunday Standard. “A lot of different goal-scorers was also a positive. It was also a good experience for many of the younger players to play and win in a final.”