Times of India: A gold worth its wait

By Jaspreet Sahni

LUCKNOW: It took 15 years coming, but when it did, the Junior Hockey World Cup gold turned a satisfying year for Indian hockey into a memorable one. Never before in the history of hockey had India won a Champions Trophy silver and a Junior World Cup in the same year. It’s no mean feat in a sport that has often relied on its 20th century chronicles to win the support of people.

The story behind this golden success, in particular, must act as a catalyst and not be allowed to become another flash in the pan. Behind this script are multiple actors and factors that proved to be the pivots on which India turned it around to reclaim the throne in the City of Nawabs. When you come to know that captain Harjeet Singh’s father, who is a truck driver by profession, was away on duty in Maharashtra while his son lifted the trophy, the many unknown facets of this team come to the fore.

Harendra’s masterplan

Harendra Singh was given the charge of India juniors -a pool of 42 players -in 2014. It was then that he drafted his Mission 2016. The seriousness of Harendra’s approach towards pruning this team to 18 could be seen in the minutest of details he went into – like creating a Whatsapp group titled ‘Mission 2016’, drafting a team slogan, handing out a print to every player and listing 31 words starting with letter ‘C’ to counter any situation on or off the pitch. The world ‘champion’ was added to the list on Sunday to make it 32. The Boys in Blue kept crossing milestones – 2015 Junior Asia Cup and the four-nations trophy in Valencia in 2016 -before accomplishing final mission.

Surjit Hockey Academy

The role of Surjit Hockey Academy in India’s WC success is huge, as 10 of the 18 players are from the famous hockey nursery in Jalandhar. Harjeet, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Simranpreet Singh, Krishan Pathak, Hardik Singh, Gurinder Singh, Vikramjeet Singh and Parvinder Singh are all products of the academy. Include Gurjant Singh, who shifted from Surjit Academy to the Punjab Institute of Sports, and you have an entire team coming from a single academy .In fact, most of the boys in the above list have been together since schooldays, having played together for more than 10 years, including now for the national team. That explains the coordination of this team.

Seniors in the squad

Striker Mandeep (with over 50 caps), playmaker Harjeet and dragflicker Harmanpreet (part of Rio Olympics team) already have the senior-team experience. The trio had said before the start of the WC that the experience of having played with the senior team would help them “prepare for the big matches”. It did make a difference as they led from the front in the knockouts.

Sreejesh in the dugout

Some observers were surprised to see senior India captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh in the junior dugout. Some even called it a strategic move by the star goalkeeper to angle for a future job with Hockey India. In fact, it was a selfless move by a player recovering from injury, who wanted to make the most of his time off. Sreejesh’s presence was felt when he guided Vikas Dahiya during the shootout against Australia in semifinal.