It was touted as the year which could herald a change in the fortunes of Indian hockey, but 2018 turned out to be yet another saga of missed opportunities for the sport.
2018 turned out to be a year of ‘what could have been’
New Delhi:
It was also expected to make the semi-finals of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, but all those hopes never turned into reality. The only constant in Indian hockey was frequent ‘chopping and changing’ -- from player to coach -- after every debacle.
The year started with the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia where Sardar Singh returned to lead the side, but India had a disappointing outing there, managing only a win and a draw to finish fifth. In between, after Roelant Oltmans’ sacking in September 2017, Hockey India (HI) handed the reigns of the men’s team to women’s coach Sjoerd Marijne. Similarly, junior men’s WC-winning coach Harendra Singh was entrusted with the women’s job.
But the experiment came to a premature end following India’s loss to England in the bronze medal match at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April. The CWG outing forced HI to go for a coach swap, with Harendra replacing Marijne in the men’s team and the Dutchman re-joining the women’s side.
Amid the chopping and changing of coaches, the captain’s armband also passed many hands after Sardar was dropped from the CWG squad. After Harendra’s elevation to the men’s team, Sardar made a comeback along with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh after a long injury lay-off. They returned for the final edition of the Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands, where India recorded its best result of the year, finishing second after losing to Australia in the shoot-out.
India went into the Asiad as favourite to retain the gold medal, but it was not to be as the defending champion lost to Malaysia in a shoot-out in the semi-finals, eventually returning with a consolation bronze. Then, Sardar was dropped for the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, forcing the hurt midfielder to announce retirement. In the ACT, India shared the honours with Pakistan after the final was washed out.
Later, Harendra decided to make wholesome changes in the WC squad, putting his faith on WC-winning junior players in place of experienced campaigners like Rupinder Pal Singh and SV Sunil among others. India’s WC squad comprised only six players with over 150 international caps as compared to eventual champions Belgium, which had 12.
The country expected the young squad to rewrite history after 43 years but that was not to be as the home team lost 1-2 to Netherlands to crash out in the quarter-finals.
Much was expected from the three big-ticket events -- the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the World Cup -- but rather than living up to the expectations, 2018 turned out to be a year of ‘what-could-have-been’. At the start of the year, India was expected to defend its Asian Games title and directly qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It was also expected to make the semi-finals of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, but all those hopes never turned into reality. The only constant in Indian hockey was frequent ‘chopping and changing’ -- from player to coach -- after every debacle.
The year started with the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia where Sardar Singh returned to lead the side, but India had a disappointing outing there, managing only a win and a draw to finish fifth. In between, after Roelant Oltmans’ sacking in September 2017, Hockey India (HI) handed the reigns of the men’s team to women’s coach Sjoerd Marijne. Similarly, junior men’s WC-winning coach Harendra Singh was entrusted with the women’s job.
But the experiment came to a premature end following India’s loss to England in the bronze medal match at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April. The CWG outing forced HI to go for a coach swap, with Harendra replacing Marijne in the men’s team and the Dutchman re-joining the women’s side.
Amid the chopping and changing of coaches, the captain’s armband also passed many hands after Sardar was dropped from the CWG squad. After Harendra’s elevation to the men’s team, Sardar made a comeback along with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh after a long injury lay-off. They returned for the final edition of the Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands, where India recorded its best result of the year, finishing second after losing to Australia in the shoot-out.
India went into the Asiad as favourite to retain the gold medal, but it was not to be as the defending champion lost to Malaysia in a shoot-out in the semi-finals, eventually returning with a consolation bronze. Then, Sardar was dropped for the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, forcing the hurt midfielder to announce retirement. In the ACT, India shared the honours with Pakistan after the final was washed out.
Later, Harendra decided to make wholesome changes in the WC squad, putting his faith on WC-winning junior players in place of experienced campaigners like Rupinder Pal Singh and SV Sunil among others. India’s WC squad comprised only six players with over 150 international caps as compared to eventual champions Belgium, which had 12.
The country expected the young squad to rewrite history after 43 years but that was not to be as the home team lost 1-2 to Netherlands to crash out in the quarter-finals.