Indian Men's Hockey Team Emerges From Shadow Of Its Glorious Past

It would be an understatement to say India were the most dominant force in men's field hockey at the Summer Olympics since the sport was reintroduced at the quadrennial event in 1928 until the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980. In the 12 editions of the Olympics held during that period, India won eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The only time they missed out on a medal was at the Montreal Games in 1976. Since then, though, India have flattered to deceive at the biggest stage.

The team's fall from grace over the years is well documented. The lowest point came when India failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. At the next edition in London, India did qualify but took the wooden spoon after losing all their games.

This is why India's bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games means so much to the country.

Led by midfielder Manpreet Singh and with the ever-reliable PR Sreejesh in goal, India looked like a team high on confidence throughout the competition in Tokyo.

Despite the 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Australia in the group stages, India won their remaining games to qualify for the quarterfinals where they beat Great Britain.

World champions Belgium were too strong for the Graham Reid-coached side but India came back strongly to beat Germany in a nine-goal thriller on Thursday to win the bronze medal.

It is the clearest proof yet of the revival of Indian hockey in recent years, one that has also seen the women's national team scale new heights and reach the semis in Tokyo. By winning the bronze in Tokyo, the Indian men's hockey team has emerged from the shadow of its world-beating predecessors.

This medal, however, has been long time coming. The revival of the team had already started a few years back and India's victory at the Junior Hockey World Cup in 2016 was a sign of things to come.

The likes of Harmanpreet Singh and Nilakanta Sharma, who were part of that team under coach Harendra Singh, have gone on to be a part of the bronze-winning team in Tokyo.

Promoted

In recent years, under Manpreet's captaincy, India won the Asia Cup in 2017, the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 and the FIH Series Final in 2019. India also secured silver at the 2018 Champions Trophy, losing the final to Australia on penalties.

The improvements made over the last few years finally bore fruit in Tokyo this month and India's latest generation of hockey fans, who have been starved of success for a long period, will hope this is just the start of another glorious chapter for the national hockey team.