Following Field Hockey article also cross-posted to RSC with respect
to a number of Indian Hockey fans here. The following article also
hosted on
www.indianhockey.com
and the UNEDITED version posted here for the sake of hockey fans.
BREAKING THE CHAMPIONS DROUGHT
===============================
On the conclusion of this edition of the 2007 Kuala-Lumpur Champions
Trophy (CT) and as an avid Indian hockey fan, often a glaring
statistic of Indian hockey rankles and perturbs me to no end. I term
this the CHAMPIONS DROUGHT or the failure of India in regards to never
having won the CT even once in the 29 editions played so far.
Ever since this high voltage no-prisoners-taken tourney had been
introduced into international hockey in 1978, thanks to the vision of
Air Marshal Nur Khan of Pakistan, it has always been an elusive hockey
dream for India. And I have often imagined in my head as to how we,
Indian hockey fans, would celebrate when India wins its first CT. As
a hockey playing nation, the country has experienced the highs of
winning the Olympic gold eight times, the FIH World Cup once in
distant 1975, the Asian games gold in 1998 as well the recent two
editions of the Asian Cup (2003 & 2007) in its rich hockey lore, and
even the Junior World Cup in 2001, but never a CT.
The most India has ever been able to do at the CT is the lone bronze
medal at the 1982 CT @ Amstelveen, Holland. After that, the closest
they have even come to a medal is the five fourth place finishes in
1983, 1996, 2002, 2003, & 2004. Of these the most harrowing were the
three consecutive fourth place finishes of 2002, 2003, & 2004 via
heartbreaking playoff losses to Asian archrivals Pakistan. And these
losses have been very beautifully and poignantly described in our own
Sundeep Misra's book on Indian great, Dhanraj Pillay "FORGIVE ME AMMA"
which hockey fans, who have read this book, may sadly recollect. And
of these three losses to Pakistan, the 2002 Cologne Germany CT loss
was the most devastating because at the end of the league round, India
finished third ahead of fourth placed Pakistan and had also beaten
them in the league stage in a thriller. But, in the playoffs for the
third and fourth position (bronze medal), Pakistan somehow found a way
to win 4-3 and turn the tables on India.
Pillay, on that 2002 ocassion, had never come so close to achieving
his dream of winning a big tournament medal, to quote Sundeep's book.
And as a fan, that heartache agonizes me even today, what to say of
Pillay himself. And I clearly remember myself uttering profanities at
that time over the accursed CT playoff system for the final placements
introduced for the first time in the history of the tournament in
1992. Till that time, the tournament concluded at the round-robin
stage itself with the medal winners being determined by the total
tally of points. I, for one, have never been in favor of the playoffs
in CT where freak upsets could rob a team genuinely deserving a CT
medal after good performances in the round-robin stage. To this day,
I label that 2002 bronze medal CT game as a game that robbed Pillay as
a deserved big tournament medal winner. For that matter, the bronze
medal playoff between Korea and Holland in the currently concluded CT
2007, where the latter prevailed 3-2, has, IMHO, robbed Korea of a
well deserved bronze medal after they had thumped Holland 6-2 in the
league stage earlier. In fact, Korea had also prevailed over eventual
silver medalists Australia 1-0. In this light, I strongly believe that
a playoff game in CT should only be held when there is a tie in terms
of points and goal difference at the end of the round-robin league
stage.
So what will it take for India to ever win a CT? And for that matter,
when will an Asian hockey power ever win the CT again? The last time
that happened was in 1994 when Pakistan claimed its third CT title on
home turf at Lahore. And after that the closest it has come to laying
its hand on the trophy is again in the Lahore CT 1998 where it
finished second. As for the newer Asian power Korea, the closest it
has come is the second place finish at the Brisbane CT 1999. And the
recent record of Pakistan in CT has been close to the bottom: two
fifth place finishes in 2005, 2006 and seventh place finish in CT
2007. Korea has also to win a medal in recent CTs. And all this
combined with India's dismal CT record makes the CT a Euro-dominated
tournament, provided we classify Australia also with the Europeans.
The Big-3: Germany, Holland, and Australia have established a kind of
an unbreakable stranglehold on this tournament. They have combined to
win 25 of the 29 CTs played so far. Even a sporadically dominant
European power like Spain has a CT title to its credit in the 2004
Lahore edition. That makes it 26 out of 29 CTs for the Europeans
leaving a miserly 3 CTs for Asia all of which has been claimed by
Pakistan. Now does this glaring statistic say something here, I
wonder.
So coming back again to the main question: What will it take for
India to lay its hands on this elusive silverware that has been
playing the tempting siren with it throughout its 30 year history?
First of all we have to make sure that India qualifies consistently
for the CT like the Big-3: Holland, Germany, & Australia who have an
impressive record in this regard. We need to make sure that we finish
consistently in the top 4 in big tournaments like the Olympics and the
FIH World Cup so that we could then make a sustained assault on
winning our maiden CT and then extend it to a string of CT titles.
Unfortunately, our appearances in the CT have a checkered past other
than the times we played in the CT by virtue of being the host. But
now that we have the erstwhile Charlesworth on our side, we have to
focus on finding a way to consistently qualify for the CT and once
there, to consistently figure in podium finishes and then on to win it
not once but many times over. In fact, winning the CT should be the
Holy Grail for Indian hockey now and all focus and energy should be
directed towards this end. If this goal in this brutally competitive
tourney is consistently taken care of annually in coming years, our
confidence level for performing and winning back the Olympic gold as
well as the FIH World Cup should be that much easier. (This is no
rocket science as the CT is an annual event, whereas the Olympics and
FIH World Cup occur only once in four years. So winning the CT is a
more tangible goal and the right step in the right direction and most
importantly THE KEY for India to reclaim its past glory)
BREAKING THE CHAMPIONS DROUGHT: INDIAN HOCKEY'S PRIORITY FOCUS
Shiva IYER
www.sivaramhariharan.com
Krishnaarpanam: In reverence to that ultimate power that is the
source of all creativity, knowledge, and talent.
Copyright: No part of this article shall be reproduced in any part or
form without consent from the author.
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