No second goalkeeper in Indian teams

Strange are the ways the National Sports Federations (NSFs) in general and Hockey India in particular function. Even in the Olympic year, there have been no dearth of controversies in the NSFs. While the BJP government changed the union Sports minister a fortnight before the Olympic games, the IOA was still squabbling whether to include an official whose sport had no athlete representing the country at Tokyo. Covid 19 pandemic notwithstanding, Indian contingent will be 220-plus strong with 125-odd athletes in it.

In this one of biggest ever Olympic squad to leave the shores of the country, medal hopefuls are countable on fingertips. The replaced Sports minister, Kiran Rijeiju, was hopeful that India’s medal tally at Tokyo will be in double figures. Starting with hockey, many feel that there is a clear chance for a medal in men’s hockey. Going by India’s world ranking of four and its recent showings in the FIH Pro League, the team looks to be in good shape. Its only handicap has been that it did not get enough of international exposure. Most of its FIH Pro League matches were cancelled because of Covid 19 related travel restrictions.

The announcement of teams, both men and women, could have been better organized than leaving scope for unnecessary speculations and controversies. On the first day, Hockey India announced the teams without naming their captains.

Secondly, both the team managements were unanimous in not including a second goalkeeper. Instead, an extra defender was taken to complete the final 16.

Men’s team had some surprises as experienced forwards Akashdeep and Ramandeep were left out. Also dropped was second goalkeeper K. Pathak. Incidentally all three are from Punjab.

The Hockey India realized its folly of not naming captains. When it did, it came out with long lists of team commanders and deputy commanders. Both men and women teams, Hockey India said, will have a captain and two vice captains each.

While midfielder Manpreet Singh was named captain of the Olympic-bound men’s team, Rani Rampal was given the honors of leading the women’s team.

The vice captain’s role of the men’s team will be shared by experienced defenders Birendra Lakra and Harmanpreet Singh. In case of the women’s team, goalkeeper Savita and deep defender Deep Grace Ekka will share the responsibility of the vice-captain.

Never any Indian team, bound for Olympic games had two vice captains.

The only exception had been 1968 when the then Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) named deep defenders Prithipal Singh and Gurbux Singh Kohli as joint captains of the Mexico-bound Indian men’s team. And that experiment was disastrous as Indian team failed to make the final for the first time.

Under Manpreet’s captaincy, the Indian team over the past four years has achieved important milestones including winning the Asia Cup in 2017, winning the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 as well winning the FIH Series Final in 2019. The team also made it to the quarterfinals of the FIH Men’s World Cup 2018 in Bhubaneswar. It also performed exceedingly well in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020 before the pandemic disrupted its schedule. This will be Manpreet’s third Olympic games and under his leadership, the team has also improved their world ranking to number 4.

Birendra is a veteran defender who was also part of the London Olympic Games but missed playing in Rio owing to a major knee surgery in 2016. But since his return to the squad following the brief break, Birendra has shown considerable improvement in his performance.

Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Singh, who has since his debut in the seniors team in 2015 is now a top drag-flicker and defender. In the absence of skipper Manpreet in 2019, he led the team to a win at the FIH Olympic Test event in Tokyo.

Congratulating the three players, Chief Coach Graham Reid said, “All of them have been an integral part of the team’s leadership over these past couple of years and have shown a lot of maturity in guiding the youngsters during these challenging times. Naming two vice captains we believe will also strengthen our leadership in what is going to be a demanding tournament. We are confident that together they will guide the team to success

Expressing his gratitude on being named captain, Manpreet said, “This Olympics will be truly special, and I am humbled to have this opportunity of representing India at the Olympics for the third time, this time as team Captain. It is a very proud moment for me to be given this charge. Over these past few years, we have developed a strong leadership group and have successfully overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic to keep our form and minds and fitness focused towards doing well at the Olympics.”

Birendra said that this Olympics is special for him and being named the Vice-Captain of the team has only made this all the more special. “This will be a very special Olympic Games as we have prepared really well and are poised to win a medal in Tokyo. Being named as a vice captain along with Harmanpreet Singh is a matter of pride for me and over these past years with India we have seen players show great mental toughness during our preparations despite these trying times. We just hope to make the hard work and sacrifices count by winning big,” stated Lakra.

Harmanpreet on the other hand thanked Hockey India and the Coaching staff for the opportunity. He said, “When I came into the team as an absolute newcomer in 2015, there were a lot of seniors who guided me and I hope to play the same role now. We have a good, well-prepared team and everyone is excited to make this opportunity count.” Indian men will begin their campaign in Tokyo on July 24 when they take on New Zealand in their first Pool match.

For the women’s team, Rani was the obvious choice not just for her on-field exploits but also for her innate ability to guide the youngsters in the team.

Under her captaincy, the Indian team over the past four years has achieved significant results including winning the Asia Cup in 2017, winning silver at the Asian Games 2018, silver at Asian Champions Trophy 2018 as well winning the FIH Series Final in 2019. The team also made it to the quarterfinals of the FIH Women’s World Cup 2018 in London for the first time. She was the cynosure of India’s performance during the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Bhubaneswar where her goal put the team ahead (6-5) against USA to secure the qualification.

Hockey India also announced dependable defender Deep Grace Ekka and experienced goalkeeper Savita as the two vice captains of the women’s team. Both the players have been in the Indian Core Group for nearly a decade and have been an integral part of the leadership group. They also played a key role in India’s feats that saw it attain the best ranking of World No.9 in 2018 following a strong performance at the FIH Women’s World Cup.

Congratulating all three players named for their leadership roles, Indian women’s Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said, “I congratulate Rani on being named the Captain of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. I also congratulate Deep Grace Ekka and Savita on being named vice captains of the team. All these three players have been part of the leadership group for a long time and have proven their abilities with this added responsibility and have guided many youngsters in the Core Group. Having two Vice Captains will also strengthen the core leadership group for the future. Their experience and role will be of importance as we aim to achieve good results in Tokyo. It has been a long journey for the team and we continue into a tough challenge at the Olympics. The team needs to be mentally strong and I am confident with these three players at the helm, they are headed in the right direction.”

Expressing her gratitude on being named Captain, Rani said, “It is a huge honor to lead the Indian Team at the Olympic games. In these years my role as a captain was made easy with teammates who have shared the responsibilities as senior players. I look forward to this added responsibility and thank Hockey India, coaching staff and selectors for this honor.” Vice Captain Deep Grace Ekka too stated that this new responsibility will motivate her to ensure the team does well in Tokyo. “To lead India as vice captain at the Olympics is a huge honor and it will surely motivate me further to do well for the team. We have players from different regions of India in the team, but we have come closer as a unit over these past 15 months during the pandemic which has been challenging for all.” stated Grace who will be playing her second Olympic games.

Savita also expressed her gratitude as she said, “I thank the team’s support staff and Hockey India for giving me this responsibility. We are all eagerly awaiting to do well at the Olympics in Tokyo, and it will be great to lead India to good wins.”

When Prithipal Singh was crowned penalty king

No story about the Tokyo Olympics 1964 can be considered complete without the mention of India’s deep defender and penalty corner specialist Prithipal Singh.

Initially dropped from the Indian team, this courageous postgraduate in Agriculture, not only walked his way back into the team but also stood firm for his position.

His story needs to be told. In 1963, Prithipal Singh, a fullback in Punjab police, had some differences with the then Indian Hockey Federation chief and a senior Punjab police official, Mr. Ashwani Kumar. Blunt and temperamental as he was, Prithipal Singh put in his papers and joined the equally strong Northern Railways hockey team. This was unacceptable to Mr. Ashwani Kumar as he wanted Punjab police to remain the number one team in the country. As ill luck would have it, Punjab police ran into Northern Railway in the final of the prestigious Aga Khan Hockey Tournament in Bombay (1963). Mr Ashwani Kumar flew to Bombay specially to watch the game. The first day game ended in a draw and was scheduled for a replay the next day. Northern Railway won the replay with a penalty corner goal by Prithipal Singh. Mr. Ashwani Kumar was furious with his team. Some weeks later when the Indian team for the Tokyo Olympic games was announced, the name of Prithipal Singh was missing. Prithipal went underground as the media took up his ouster from the team as an act of vengeance. Ultimately, the IHF relented and Prithipal Singh was included in the team, not as a fullback but as a half back. He refused to accept that position. It was left to the team management to decide who will play where. On its way to Tokyo, the Indian team had an extensive training-cum-competition program in New Zealand. India lost its first Test match to New Zealand 1-3. Prithipal refused to play as half back. There was hue and cry at this defeat. Even Prithipal told the team management that he would love to go back home than play as a half back. The team management relented and Prithipal was played as fullback in the second Test that India won 5-1 with a brace of penalty corner goals. India also won the third Test with a big margin. Once the team was in Tokyo, Prithipal scripted history by emerging as the top scorer with eight penalty corner goals. It was his penalty corner shot that India got a penalty stroke in the final against Pakistan. Mohinder Lal converted that stroke to give India 1-0 win and gold medal. Prithipal Singh was crowned penalty king for his performance.

India has won a record number of eight gold medals in hockey, starting with the 1928 Olympic games. Indian team won gold medals in subsequent 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980 Olympic games. In 1960 India got a Silver losing the final to Pakistan. In 1968 and 1972 India won a bronze each in hockey.

 After the 1980 Moscow Olympic games, India has not won any Olympic medal in hockey.

____________ ___________ _______

Medal hopefuls…

Other than hockey, India is hopeful of winning medals in weightlifting, badminton, boxing, wrestling, shooting, athletics, archery and tennis.

In archery, India has world number one pair in Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari. Deepika was recently conferred world number one title and has been doing well this year. Weightlifter Mirabal Chanu is another medal hopeful. And is rated among the world’s best in her weight category.

Badminton star PV Sindhu who lost the gold medal match to Carolina Marin of Spain in the 2016 Olympic games is another medal prospect. This time Carolina is not playing as she had undergone a surgery. Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who will be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony and Vinesh Phogat also have bright chances of figuring in the medals list. Vinesh was unfortunate in twisting her leg against a Chinese wrestler in the Rio Olympics and had to be carried off the mat on a stretcher. But now she is a much better and mature wrestler who finished third in the World Wrestling championship recently.

Shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Elavenil Valarivan, too, are expected to have podium finishes.

In athletics, Indian hopes rest on javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who after recovering from injury has shown considerable improvement and is touching the world standards.

Boxer Amit Panghal is another Olympic medal aspirant. His recent performances are laudable.

Veteran Sania Mirza will have Ankita as her partner in women’s doubles in tennis while Monika Batra will compete in table tennis.

__________.   __________

Four players of Indian origin will represent Canada in Tokyo Olympic games. They are wrestler Amar Dhesi, water polo player Gurpreet Sohi and hockey players Sukhpal Panesar and Keegan Pereira. 

Incidentally Gurpreet Sohi is the first woman player of Indian origin to represent Canada in Olympic games. She is training to be a medical science specialist and has represented Canada in several international sports events with distinction before.

Two Table tennis players – Kanak Jha and Nikhil Kumar – will represent the USA in the Tokyo Olympics. In the Rio Olympics, Rajiv Ram of Indian origin had won a silver medal in mixed doubles in tennis in partnership with Venus Williams.

And only last Sunday, an American boy of Indian origin, Samir Banerjee (17), won the Boys singles title at Wimbledon, a great honor.

(The author is a senior journalist. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)