Olympic Selection: Will the trio make it a hat-trick?

K. ARUMUGAM

Getting selected for the Olympics even once is a dream for any player. If one gets into the Olympics team twice is in itself a feat. Third is definitely a leap into history books. Currently, three Indian captains in the Olympics Core Group — PR Sreejesh, SV Sunil, Manpreet Singh — are in the reckoning for their third number, and thus just moments away from entering the elite echelon.

Since synthetic turf was introduced in the 1976 Olympics, only EIGHT players have  obtained the distinction of triple Olympians. They are 80s stars MM Somaya, Mervyn Fernandis, Md. Shahid and Pargat Singh and then the 90s trio of  right winger Mukesh Kumar, centre-forward Dhanraj Pillay (we went on to play four times), Defender Dilip Tirkey and inside-forward Baljit Singh Dhillon.

Its stressed that some players like Ajit Pal Singh too figured in three Olympics (1968 to 1976)  but one of them was on grass. This article deals triple Olympians on synthetic turf.

Eleven Olympics have taken place from Montreal (1976) to Rio (2016), About 150 Indian players have taken part in them. Out of the stock, only  eight players have got the Triple-Olympian tag. This speaks for the rarity of triple Olympians. It is subject matter for research on the specifics of how they survived such long spell of competitive hockey.

Now, let’s come to current crop of Olympic hopefuls undergoing the last phase of practice, and trials matches at Bengaluru,

The threesome — goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, forward SV Sunil and Manpreet Singh — are in the real chance of making it their third.

It seems both Sreejesh and Manpreet will definitely make it to Tokyo. However we wish a shade of doubt persists with respect to resilient Sunil, as he was not taken for the recent tour.

SV Sunil, who  made his international debut in 2007, is on his 14th year of competitive hockey. But for India missing out the Beijing number, he could now be running for his fourth Olympics

Manpreet played for India four years after Sunil’s debut. Unlike Sunil, he played his first Olympics the very next year.

Goalie PR Sreejesh, who India at Rio, made his debut technically in 2004 against visiting France, but it was considered B team of India. He again played for India two years later at the South Asian Federation Games (2006). Here too, the second team of India took part. He cemented his place in the senior team since playing in the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. By age, caps and longevity, he stands heads and shoulders above the two.

It is to be seen that whether all the three players, who are doing immense service to our sport, will be able to make a historic triple Olympian label.

It is expected that the Indian men’s hockey team for the Tokyo Olympics will be announced in about a week’s time.

The focus when it happens, will be to locate all the above three names.

Note: There is a separate article in the site giving details of all Triple Olympic hockey players of India.