‘A dream come true’

Apart from being one of the seniormost players in the Indian hockey team, Arjun Halappa also proved his ageing limbs were still fit enough to tackle the best in the business. At the Commonwealth Games, the Kodava lad came up with an impressive performance in the midfield apart from converting a crucial stroke during the semifinal against England.
Until a year-and a half ago, Halappa often found himself out of favour with the selectors. Having made a comeback into the team in 2009, the 30-year-old has since then tactfully manned the midfield. Having won India’s first ever medal in men’s hockey, Halappa said the feat was somewhat soured by the 8-0 drubbing by Australia in the final.

“We are happy that we won India’s first medal in men’s hockey, but we could not finish well. The loss to Australia hurts terribly. It is the margin of defeat which haunts us and that was the reason we could never get ourselves to celebrate the silver medal,” said Halappa.

But for the final, India did come across as an improved side. After drawing their opening match against Malaysia, they were beaten 5-0 by Australia, before they won the all-important match against arch-rivals Pakistan. The nailing-biting victory against England in the semifinal showed the Men in Blue could dish out champion stuff. Halappa said the World Cup debacle at the same venue in March this year was playing on the team’s mind and that also motivated them to answer their critics.

“The team thrived on self-belief. We went into the tournament with the desire to do well as we had to make up for the World Cup loss. Each one of us had a point to prove and we just stuck to our plan. A medal was a common dream the team had and our dream came true,” said the Air India employee.

After the Delhi Games, Halappa who headed home for a short break will start preparing for the Asian Games at the national camp which gets underway on October 26 in New Delhi. And ask him about hanging up his boots, Halappa is quick to add that we haven’t seen the last of him yet. “For the past year-and-half I’ve been enjoying my game and the desire to win matches for the country is still there. I haven’t thought about retirement yet. Maybe after the Asian Games I’ll think about my future,” he said.