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New Indian Express: Junior Hockey World Cup final: Crowd plays 12th man to perfection

New Indian Express: Junior Hockey World Cup final: Crowd plays 12th man to perfection

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New Indian Express: Junior Hockey World Cup final: Crowd plays 12th man to perfection

By Swaroop Swaminathan

LUCKNOW: You know those automobile advertisements. The ones that trumpet their vehicle has the ability to go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.84 seconds. The crowd that turned up for the Junior World Cup final did 0 to 100 on the volume scale in less than a millisecond.

The spectators have been magnificent throughout the tournament, and they again turned up in droves, a record attendance if people in the know are to be believed, to watch the hosts being crowned champions for the second time. It’s not really a surprise because Lucknow, and Uttar Pradesh, have always loved their hockey. So much so that the city’s premier cricket arena is named after a former hockey international — KD Singh Babu Stadium. There is also an indelible link between coach Harendra Singh and the host city. “This ground is a journey for me,” he had said after the semifinal win over Australia.

“I’ve never returned empty-handed from this stadium. The day Lucknow was declared venue for this competition, I told my boys that they’ll get a medal, but they have to decide which one.”

Call it sixth sense, but he had a point. India became the first country to win the title on home soil (11th edition).

Belgium coach Jeroen Baart had wanted his side to face India in the final because of the experience — a partisan crowd under lights during a chilly winter evening. “It would be an amazing contest,” he had said.

The junior teams of Spain, Germany and England all wanted to experience the same, but there just weren’t enough seats. Support staffs of Germany and the entire English team, many of whom were busy taking videos of the ‘unbelievable crowd’ throughout the encounter, had to be seated with the media.

Baart conceded that the atmosphere had an adverse effect on his players in the first half. “I think the players did not handle the noise all that well in the first half.”

Though Belgium halved the deficit with the last hit of the game, the match was done as a contest at half-time.

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