Batala SP (Operations) Varinderpreet Singh is a man riding high on cloud nine. His son Hardik Singh was an integral part of the bronze medal winning hockey squad. His goal against Belgium-his first and the team’s third-is being spoken about even now. The SP says it was Hardik’s grandfather who taught him the nuances of the game in their native Khusropur village in Jalandhar. He says Hardik was a quick learner and when he reached college he had already made a name for himself on the hockey turfs of the country. The officer is being feted by everybody and anybody who matters in the Punjab Police. Right now, the SP is enjoying his moments of fame. So much so, Batala SSP Rachpal Singh has planned a big party when the Olympian returns home.

Hopeful poor cousin 

India’s overall medal tally in the Tokyo Olympics is not at all impressive keeping in view the fact that India is a nation of more than 130 crore. For Indian sport, despite a medal here and a medal there, the past remains imperfect while the future remains tense. The hockey bronze indeed came as a whiff of fresh air but our inability to score in other sports stood out like a sore thumb. As for now, Indian sport resembles a boxer with a glass jaw having an aura of uncertainty to it. Let us come back to our national game. The ball was rolling in India’s favour till Europeans introduced the astro-turf in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Suddenly, things went off track. The turf was brought to modern day hockey because it suited the rugged, long hitting style of the Europeans. Slowly, the dribble and the art of short passes died. Hockey is played on grass with bodies bent but when it comes to the turf a player must keep himself erect because of the ball’s high bounce generated by the synthetic surface. The Indians never really adapted themselves. The last of the Olympic gold medals came in the 1980 Moscow Olympics but for all that that was a depleted field with just 6 nations taking part. The IHF has failed to understand that TV is the engine that drives modern sport. The IHF failed to bring in big time sponsors which could have filled the coffers of the game like they have done with cricket. During 90s stretching to the early part of this millennium, a genius like Dhanraj Pillay ruled the roost. His style combined with the heavy mop of curly hair meant he could have been a sponsor’s delight. Add to it the poetry he used to write on the field. However, the IHF failed to market him and others of his ilk. This meant that, very much unlike cricket, the game of hockey remained poor. Having said all this, the bronze in Tokyo has surely given us some hope. Every sportsman knows hope is a powerful thing. It inspires us to do the impossible and helps us carry on through difficult times. The sources of hope are many and for hockey the bronze is one such source. Observers claim this is the right time to pitch on the TV bandwagon. This will bring in cash to run the game. And till money comes, hockey will remain a poor cousin of cricket.

missing warriors

Last week, a Dhruv chopper fell into the Ranjit Sagar Dam lake after developing a technical fault. The Punjab Police and the district administration scrambled a team of divers to locate the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot-Lt Col SS Bhatt and Capt Jayant Joshi, respectively. However, 48 hours later, the Army asked the divers to stay back home and in fact requested the Navy to send its team of crack divers. Two helicopters carrying two dozen divers flew from New Delhi and landed near the lake. Despite their best efforts, all their efforts came to a naught. As ill luck would have it, days after the crash, yet another Dhruv chopper developed a snag forcing the pilots to land it about 5 km away from the lake. Two incidents in one week have now sent the Pathankot-based Army Aviation Unit experts back to the drawing boards. DC Sanyam Aggarwal and SSP Surendra Lamba camped at the accident site and supervised the search operations. That was till the time the Army decided to take things into its hands. At the time of writing, the search for the pilots was still on.

— Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal