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IHF’s gloomy days

The triumphant German hockey team at the Beijing Olympics.

Any attempt to assess the year that was in competitive hockey engulfs the aficionado in an emotional melange. In every sense, the year 2008 was extraordinary, leaving one in a web of wonder. The year being very eventful, it is a question of where to begin. Should Germany’s triumph in Beijing, where it added the Olympic gold medal to its World Cup, gain precedence over other events? Or should it be the catastrophic failure of India to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in eight decades? Then there was the change of guard in the FIH (International Hockey Federation), with Leandro Negre of Spain edging out the charismatic Dutch lady, Els van Breda Vriesman; and the cataclysmic happenings in Indian hockey that saw an ad hoc committee replacing the IHF (Indian Hockey Federation).

Each of these events was quite significant. In the early part of the year, the new qualification format involving 18 teams for the three places for the Beijing Olympics caught the attention. Admittedly, it proved difficult for the established teams to finish on top. New Zealand pipped Argentina following a Hayden Shaw’s golden goal in the qualifiers in Auckland, while Great Britain knocked out eight-time Olympic champion India for a Beijing berth in the qualifying tournament in Santiago. In the third qualifying tournament in Gifu (Japan), Germany swamped the opposition to qualify for the Games and eventually ended up champion in Beijing.

The consequences of India’s elimination were devastating, no doubt. But what was noteworthy of the hockey competitions at the Beijing Olympics was that for the first time the women’s section featured 12 teams.

That none of the Asian nations — there were three in the fray — made it to the semifinals in the men’s competition only underscored the decline of the continent in the sport. If Australia, the defending champion, began as the favourite on the basis of its victory in the Champions Trophy in Rotterdam, the final results told another story. Australia succumbed to Spain by the odd goal in five, while the Netherlands, who looked like bulldozing the opposition in the early stages, capitulated to the power and precision of Germany.

Powered by a superb goal by the golden boy, Christopher Zeller, Germany defeated Spain in the final to regain the title it last won at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Australia, quite amazingly, pounded the Netherlands 6-2 for the third place. For the ageing Dutch side, with the inimitable Teun di Nooijer still holding fort with the support of the evergreen flicker, Taeke Takema, the fourth place finish was a humiliation of sorts, especially when compared with the Dutch women who regained the gold defeating China.

What was really shocking was the worst performance of the three Asian teams in the fray. South Korea slipped to sixth position, while Pakistan tumbled to eighth place, the nation’s poorest performance ever in the Olympics. China, a silver medal winner at the Asian Games, and which qualified for the Olympics as the host, finished 11th.

The silver lining for Asia was provided by the Chinese women’s team which performed beyond expectations. The home team conquered the defending champion, Germany, in the semifinals before going down to the Netherlands by a solitary goal.

Spain won the Olympic qualifying tournament in Baku, while the US emerged triumphant in Kazan. South Korea won the third qualifier in Victoria.

On a sour note, two Spanish women players tested positive, raising doubts over the team’s participation in Beijing. But nothing much came out of that.

Australia and Argentina clinched the men’s and women’s Champions Trophy in Rotterdam and Monchengladbach respectively. Australia accounted for Spain in the men’s final, while in the women’s event Argentina thrashed Germany 6-2, thanks mainly to the excellent performance of the Player of the Year, Luciana Aymar.

Interestingly for the Spanish men’s team, trained by the accomplished Maurits Hendriks, the year ended with two silver medals at the most important competitions, the Champions Trophy and the Olympics. But the nomination of Pablo Amat as the Player of the Year was some consolation for Spain.

Spain moved up to third place in the world rankings, with Germany and Australia taking the top two slots. India slipped to No. 11, while Pakistan was ranked No. 8. South Korea was ranked No. 5.

In the women’s section, the Netherlands moved up to No. 1, followed by Argentina, Germany and China.

If India was in focus, it was for wrong reasons. The disaster in Santiago had a chain reaction, leading to the replacement of Joaquim Carvalho as India’s coach and the ham-handed manner in which the Aussie stalwart, Ric Charlesworth, was humiliated as the technical consultant under the IOC-IHF-Special India Project, designed by the then FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman. As though these irritants were not enough, the sting operation conducted by the television channel, Aaj Tak, involving the IHF Secretary, Jothikumaran, led to a major shake-up. Jothikumaran resigned and soon after the IHF, headed by K. P. S. Gill, was suspended by the IOA on the recommendation of the FIH.

These unfortunate happenings overshadowed the euphoria of the Indian team winning the Junior Asia Cup in Hyderabad, thanks to the excellent individual performance of India’s best bet, Diwakar Ram, and the silver medal won by India at Ipoh in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament. Apart from paving the way for the Asia Cup and facilitating a meeting of the FIH top brass and the AHF (Asian Hockey Federation), the ad hoc committee, appointed in place of the IHF, did precious little to structure the domestic circuit.

A new helmsman for the FIH at the fag end of the year triggered a bit of unease within the hockey community. The exit of Els van Breda Vriesman after eight years at the helm was somewhat unexpected. Quite a few loose ends surfaced in the wake of this incident and one of them pertained to the continuation of the Special India Project.

The hockey fraternity mourned the death of Brig. Manzoor Hussain Atif, former Olympian, selector and administrator from Pakistan during the first week of December. Whether one agreed with him or not on various issues, that he was an influential figure from the continent in the council of world hockey cannot be doubted.

Introspection into hockey in 2008 leaves a chronicler in a mood of scepticism, if not in a state of despair.

S. Thyagarajan in Sportstar Magazine