The Hindu: Kazan victory — a small but significan

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Kazan victory — a small but significant step forward

S. Thyagarajan

Chennai: Surinder Kaur and her bunch of brave girls deserve commendation from the hockey community.

What they achieved at Kazan may be a small step forward but its significance cannot be undermined, especially in the context of the prevailing chaos in the domestic structure.

Victory in the second tier of the Champions Trophy qualifier establishes that hockey in India, especially among women, is alive and kicking. It signals the need for a meaningful programme to elevate both quality and content to a different plane.

It is undeniable, and regrettably so, that women’s hockey had been, and continues to, grope in the area of neglect. The trauma the players were subjected to on the eve of their departure to Kazan amidst a volley of blame game by self-proclaimed administrators, travel agent and airline concerned is a case in point.

Still, the girls remained unaffected by the mismanagement of a trip to an important assignment and returned to portray a great tale of success. Those who distanced themselves from the departure fiasco will be the first in line to take credit for India’s showing.

Suddenly, you find e-mails flashing the final result, incomplete at that, to select media personnel from the Hockey India site.
Important question

The important question that crops up is whether the women segment will attract more attention. This can at best a matter of guess. The buzz of victory historically is ephemeral as happened after the gold medal win in the Asian Games in New Delhi, where the game made its debut. While the men’s squad succumbed to Pakistan, the women wrote a golden chapter.

The issue of merger was on debate at that time. The then President of Indian Women’s Hockey Federation, Ms. Reena Mukerji, suggested that the time was ripe for men’s hockey headed by Mr. I.M. Mahajan to come with a request for a unified body to IWHF.

Interestingly, the situation after 27 years is the same with more complexities etched in a different scenario.

Long before the Asiad gold, the Indian women proved they were not far behind men, taking a semifinal spot in the inaugural 1974 World Cup at Mandelieu (France).

Players in the calibre of Nirmala Mandana, Rupa Saini, and the Britto sisters, were in the world reckoning. Any imaginative administrative apparatus would have built up the sport as a powerful force. But that was not to be, thanks again to an imbroglio, what with a Begum ruling from Lucknow and another high profile administrator from Bangalore.

The euphoria began to wane in no time. From then on, it has always been a struggle to shape a well-knit team to really give the women’s hockey a push it needed.

Despite the infirmities, real and created, the players have always been gallant, never found wanting either in skill or in enthusiasm. Else, they would never have been able to scoop the Commonwealth gold in Manchester, or a bronze in the Asiad in Doha that almost brought them back into the Olympic fold.

Every positive sign followed a plethora of negative factors largely on account of inept and unresponsive administration. Committed and proven administrators like Arnawaz Damania, who commanded influence in the International Hockey Federation were sidelined. In a nutshell, the policy of drift and inaction contributed to India tumbling in rankings and performing poorly as it did in the last World Cup at Madrid.

With the hockey administration in disarray and more complexities forecast, it is difficult to visualise any vibrant policy framework emerging to profit from the Champions Challenge II. It will be a shame if another chance to build up women’s hockey is frittered away owing to inadequate initiative.