Indian Express: When Belgian voices were drowned in a sea of Indian supporters

Two strikes by Gurjant Singh and Simranjeet Singh were enough to see them crowned junior World Champions after a gap of 15 years.

By Mihir Vasavda

One of the biggest moments in Indian hockey’s recent history came fittingly at a stadium named after Dhyan Chand. Belgium scored from a penalty corner after the hooter had sounded. The goal counted but the clock had stopped before they took the penalty corner. That goal was merely a consolation. For India had already scored twice in the first half. And those two strikes, by Gurjant Singh and Simranjeet Singh, were enough to see them crowned junior World Champions after a gap of 15 years.

The scenes that followed the Belgian goal will not be forgotten for a long time. The crowd, the “knowledgeable” Lucknow crowd, had packed the stands hours before the scheduled 6pm start. It was a record turnout for a Junior World Cup match, forcing the organisers to open sections of the stadium which were covered until Sunday, for the fear that everyone may not be able to be accomodated. They could’ve built a couple of more tiers and still run short of space to accommodate people.

In the delirium that followed after the hooter, a few Indian players collapsed on the ground, wiping their tears and embracing each other. “We won.we won!” captain Harjeet Singh kept yelping in Hindi, waving the tricolor. It was almost as if he was reminding himself of what had just happened; finding it hard to believe.

Seldom had India played with such grace and aggression for a long time. Fittingly in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow in particular, which can be regarded as the birthplace of Indian wizardry. This is the land of Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, KD Singh Babu and Mohammad Shahid. On their soil, this Indian team has played a brand of hockey that would have made them proud. They have combined skill with speed and flair with fitness.

India’s opponents, Belgium, were no pushovers. They have emerged as the new powerhouse of international hockey, which was asserted when their senior team reached the final of Rio Olympics earlier this year. Before the final, Belgium had been by far the best team in the junior World Cup. So well structured are they that even some of the best attacking sides – including Germany and Argentina – have found it tough to break them down.

On Sunday, two factors unnerved the otherwise unflappable Belgians. First, the crowd. None of the Belgian players had experienced an atmosphere like this before. The 17,000-odd were so partisan and boisterous that Belgium took almost half an hour just to calm down. By then, India had already scored two wonderful goals to put the match beyond them. “The only thing we knew was that if the crowd was getting louder, the Indians were attacking,”
Belgium captain Victor Wegnez said. “But we couldn’t hear each other at all. It was all by sign language, which made it tough.”

The Indian players were feeding off from the energy from the stands. It has been the case for almost the entire World Cup. India have played with such ‘ridiculous pace’ (as described by England coach Jon Blebby), especially on counterattacks, that most defences have found it tough to contain them.

It has also been one of the reasons why they have been able to script comebacks in three big matches: the group stage encounter against England, quarterfinal vs Spain and semifinal against Australia. These were some of the qualities that Indian teams of the past grudgingly admired in their opponents. But the times have changed. “This Indian team is very fit, as we have seen. And they are pretty fast,” Belgium coach Jeroen Baart said. “It makes them tough to beat.”

India last won the junior World Cup in 2001. That bunch of players, comprising Gaganajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Viren Rasquinha and the two Tirkeys—Prabodh and Ignace —among others, was considered the best India had produced in decades. But owing to several factors, both political and personal, they never really realized their true potential and Indian hockey continued its slide.

But it has been on an upswing. The graph of the senior team has been moving in the right direction in the last two years and under veteran coach Harendra Singh, the juniors have followed suit.

Given the right support, these players may go on to achieve a lot more. Whatever happens in the future, they will forever remember this evening for all its madness and magic. Captain Harjeet Singh, one of the stars of the tournament, promises a lot more. “I promise we will win more tournaments for India,” he said, holding the trophy. “We have more important targets.”