Bronze medal finish for junior hockey, yet inspiring |
The recent show of the Indians in the men’s FIH Junior world hockey world cup with a bronze medal to show after a gap of nine years, is enough reason to be heartened about the health of the sport in the country. The colts did not win the prized gold medal all right but their effort of pulling back from a deficit to a winning post in the end is inspiring enough to say, not everything is lost in a sport where India had a special place in history. There was a time until the turn of 1980 when each Olympics raised visions of a gold in hockey for India. Talk of finesse in stick work, the magical dribbles and astute short passes, well Indians seemed adept at everything. As long as the sport was played on natural grass, India’s supremacy was well established on the Olympic canvas.
Artificial turf then started the changes. From the subtle movements on the grass to the meaty hitting and swift running, the image of hockey changed and it seemed India had fallen back in capturing the nuances of the new version. It is never easy. From the soft grassy surfaces to the hard and often knee straining astro turf the requirements were different. Stamina and fitness were the........