Highs and lows in performance are but part of sports at any time. Only, when they come one after the other there is a sea of emotion and as it happened in recent times, some noise too. The reference here is to the historic win of the Indian hockey team in the Asian Champions trophy championship held in China and then soon after the Davis Cup tennis event in Stockholm where Sweden swept aside India with the latter exhibiting not even a token of resistance. Hence the noise in the aftermath which it can be said had virtually descended to washing dirty linen in public!

But first, the good part is the triumph of India which hockey lovers perceive as one more confirmation of the rising stature once again of Indian hockey. A sport in which India had excelled for many years had virtually gone into virtual extinction before things began to look optimistic lately. Hockey was the sport that had provided all the delight for Indians during the Olympics, what with eight gold medals won over a period of time with 1980 in Moscow being the last occasion. Such was the expertise that Indians had in hockey that a great player like Dhyan Chand, a wizard with the stick was often called a ‘magician’ for his stickwork and understanding of the game. There were many similar stalwarts that Indian hockey boasted of at one time and hockey had truly risen to be considered as a national sport.

But then, it took more than........

© Mathrubhumi English