Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7

With less than 20 days to go for the Tokyo Games, the Olympic fever is gripping the entire sporting world. Former India striker Jagbir Singh went back in time to reflect on India’s topsy-turvy campaign at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the remarkable fight back to finish in the top-six after being relegated to the bottom of the table in the 1986 World Cup.

“One can imagine, as a youngster when selected for the Olympic Games, how excited all of us would have been. Firstly, for me, it was a dream come true being an Olympian. Secondly, facing the task of regaining a spot in the top-six as India, unfortunately, had finished at the bottom of the table in the 1986 World Cup, and people had started writing us off. So, the big challenge was to bring that confidence among the team and bring India back to where it belonged,” Jagbir recalled.

“This very spirit was inculcated in all of us right from Day 1, when we started training at the SAI campus in Bengaluru. We were told that your aim was to finish among the top-six and then see how it goes. The main objective was to play the semifinals,” he recalled while speaking about the build-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

MM Somaya-led India hockey team started their campaign with a 0-1 loss to Russia and held Germany to a 1-1 draw in the second match before registering convincing victories against South Korea and Canada.

“After losing our opening game, it seemed as if it may not work for us in this Olympics. But again, we knew what we were here for,” he remembered.

“Rest of the matches, we could play very well. On the way, we had a couple of good games – we beat Canada and Korea, and played a draw against Germany,” Jagbir added.

The Indian team went down 3-0 to Great Britain and were pushed to the 5-8 placing bracket.

Vividly recalling every moment of the Seoul Games, the 56-year-old emphasised that “not obeying the coach’s advice cost India a spot in the semifinals”. Jagbir said the team could have won that game easily.“We were shattered. We knew where we went wrong. One mistake, not obeying to what the coach had said cost us a spot in the semis,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, talking about the current Indian team, the Arjuna awardee said he was optimistic that the Manpreet Singh-led side could do what the previous teams couldn’t at the quadrennial event.

“I am very optimistic that this team can do what the previous teams couldn’t do. Firstly, this team has its own style of play, be it Manpreet, Dilpreet or Surender in the defence or Sreejesh under the bar, they all have very different qualities compared to any other team. So, the variety of talent in this Indian team is good and they are far fitter than any other team in the world,” he said.