Future of Indian hockey depends on World Cup: Kindo
ORISSA: Olympian Michael Kindo feels future of hockey in the country will be plunged into darkness if India fails to come up with a good performance in the World Cup starting later this month in Delhi.
Kindo, who was a member of the India team that won bronze in the 1972 Summer Olympics, is worried about the present state of affairs in the national game and said for the hosts, it would be an arduous task to reach the semi-finals.
“Indian hockey has been rocked by players strike and captaincy issues. As a player you feel bad about the state of affairs. India couldn’t qualify for the Beijing Olympics and if they don’t perform in the World Cup, it will be a dark future for hockey,” said Kindo.
India open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on the inaugural day of the 12-team event and Kindo feels for Rajpal Singh and his men it would be a Herculean task to get past the neighbours.
“Pakistan have always been a very formidable team. I played four times against them and the scoreline has been 2-2. They are a strong team. Apart from Pakistan, strong teams like Australia and Spain are also in Group B. I want India to win but our road to semi-final is very tough,” he said.
Asked why he feels the performance of the team has dipped over the years, Kindo said their is a dearth of talent and quality drag-flickers in the country.
“The talent is less now as compared to past. We don’t have quality shooters today and this is a weak area which needs to be addressed. Sandeep Singh and Jugraj Singh were good players but they became injury-prone,” he said.
Talk to him about the 1975 World Cup and Kindo’s eyes light up as he walks down the memory lane once again.
“It was a wonderful tournament. In the league, we lost 1-2 to Argentina and we had to beat West Germany to qualify and we just did that, defeating them 3-1 to top the pool. It was the best match of my career,” Kindo said.
“In the semi-final we beat Malaysia 2-1. In the final against Pakistan, I couldn’t play as Aslam Sher Khan was asked to take the field but I saw everything from the sidelines.
“Pakistan got into the lead first but Surjit Singh converted a penalty corner to level the scores. But it was Ashok Kumar’s goal that gave us the World Cup. Pakistan players had protested against the goal but the umpire upheld it. It was an amazing moment,” said the 62-year-old, who was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972.
Interestingly, Kindo’s career didn’t last long after following an ankle injury that he sustained during the selection trials of 1976 Montreal Olympics.
“I got injured during the selection trial and decided to quit. I had started with a gold medal in the South-East Regional hockey tournament in 1971 and finished with the 1975 World Cup gold medal. I always wanted to end my career on a high,” he signed off.