The national men’s team remained undefeated in 1928, 1932, 1936. When the world was recovering from the devastation of World War II in 1948, team India was gearing up for another win in the year itself, followed by another victory in 1952 and then in Melbourne in 1956. 

Though India was now playing as an independent nation, the match the next day, December 6, 1956, appeared to be more difficult than before. They were about to face Pakistan. 

Hopes were sky-high, so was speculation. Little did they know this is going to be the emergence of the acclaimed India-Pakistan strife. 

An independent nation, India, was about to face for the first time another independent nation which had had to be an integral part of it. With no further question pointed, this was a heart-touching occasion for the nations and the players can sense that in the air.  

Captain Balbir Singh Sr revealed in his memoirs that he found it difficult to sleep the previous night before the match. But neither he nor other players could step back. In the tournament, Singh got himself hurt at the very first match thus he was unable to participate in the finals because of incomplete recovery.

Nevertheless, he was made to run to the podium on the insistence of the head coach Harbail Singh, which per him would give a strong message to rivals. 

“He told me that even if I wasn’t able to play my best hockey, my reputation was such that the opponent would use two players to mark me and it would free up space for my other forwards,” shared Balbir.

“My injury was kept a secret from the opposition and that I didn’t shake hands with anyone. Just waved. I took pain-killing injections at the start of the game and at halftime and managed to play,” he added further. 

It was the deciding day. Match began, both teams giving a tough competition to the opponents. None could secure a single goal for the first half. Little did they know India was about to take the lead in the second half. 

Just a few minutes passed in the second half, team India earned a penalty corner which was pushed by Udham Singh. Raghubir Lal trapped the ball perfectly for Randhir Singh Gentle, who swept his shot into the Pakistan goal, past the last defender.

Even though Shankar Laxman was playing his maiden Olympics, he performed outstandingly and kept Pakistan at bay, foiling many attempts at his goal. 

Yay, India made it to the medal and won the sixth consecutive Olympic Gold.

Besides, India scored an Olympic record of 38 goals in five matches, a count that remains unbroken to date. Forward Udham Singh finished with 15 goals, the maximum number of goals in an Olympic campaign.

The post The tale of India’s sixth Gold at the Olympics first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

This time quadrennial games were jam-packed with surprises, excitement and thrill. By playing semi-finals for the first time on the international stage, the women have already made the country proud. Their phenomenal performance gathered praises from all around the world. Although the women in blue stood fourth at the high-spirited game, their play was nonetheless unnoticed. 

The battle for the Bronze was adventurous and with a slight missing grasp, Great Britain claimed victory 4-3. The journey, however, wasn’t easy to the last history scripting match. India defeated three-times world champion Australia at the quarterfinals.

“I think staying in the present moment was the biggest reason why we could bounce back after facing three losses in the opening matches. It also helped us beat a strong team like Australia (in the quarterfinal) and eventually script history in Tokyo,” Udita said in a Hockey India release.

“As a youngster, we have learned so much from this historic campaign. We got to learn how to deal with massive pressure at the biggest of stages, and we also learned how staying in the present moment can help you do wonders,” added the 23-year-old hockey champion. 

Born in Hisar, Udita is presently a part of the 25-member senior women’s core probable for the national camp in SAI, Bengaluru. 

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While remembering the match day, goalkeeper Savita said, “Now that I have finally had some time to reflect on our performance, I do feel we achieved something outstanding, and the best part was the journey to get here over the past five years. We have endured a lot as a team and as individuals faced tremendous odds to reach this level. I think we will always cherish this journey.”

“Though we lost very closely to Argentina in the semi-finals, we wanted to give our everything against Great Britain and we really wanted that medal around our necks and after beating Australia, we really believed this was achievable,” continued Savita, as quoted by The New Indian Express. She is among six players who have been nominated for the FIH awards. In the category of Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, her name is suggested along with Argentina’s Belen Succi and Great Britain’s Maddie Hinch.

Savita broke into tears after losing the adventurous Bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics. Her being consoled by the team’s Analytical Coach Jenneke Schopman depicted the entire nation’s feelings. The women in blue were regarded as the underdogs of the tournament. They stood 12th in Rio Olympics and a handful of people have predicted them to be medal competitors in Tokyo.

“But now I feel the expectations will grow. People have seen that we can perform at top tournaments, and I believe we can live up to these expectations. We now have the experience, and the team is poised to achieve bigger feats. The experience in Rio made us believe in ourselves and we really worked hard to get to this level, now we will work on taking it to the next level,” added she.

Savita said the team’s next goal is to play their best in the calendar year 2022. With a gap of just three years to the next Olympics, their focus is to dispose of outstanding matches at the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, aiming mainly to get on the podium in Paris.

“I actually can’t wait to return to camp in SAI, Bengaluru. It has become a place of comfort for us. There has been a lot of celebrations following the Olympics and now it’s time to get back to reality. Next year is crucial with the Asian Games and our priority will be to win Gold so we automatically qualify for the Paris Olympics. We will resume training with that target in mind,” she concluded.

The post We aim for Paris now, says goalkeeper Savita Punia first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Vivek was part of the national team that claimed Bronze at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics. To him, this is a dreamlike moment as he has already been honoured with the award in the 2019-2020 season.

“I never imagined this would happen again. It is a surreal feeling to have been nominated for the second time in the same category (FIH Rising Star of the Year Award),” expressed Vivek graciously.

“I got to know this late in the night when I saw texts from my friends congratulating me. To be honest, it’s really overwhelming,” he continued, as quoted by The Hindu. 

The Indian Hockey body prepared the shortlist of all the divisions of FIH Awards 2020-21.

“It’s the result of teamwork and the support of senior players,” said the 21-year old while expressing gratitude to his seniors. 

“Since my debut, the seniors have been the biggest source of motivation. They have helped me play my natural game without any fear or pressure. That is the biggest reason why I could win the 2019 FIH Rising Star of the Year Award and also stand a chance to receive the honour for the second time,” he added further. 

He also pops off his feelings of winning the Bronze against Germany at the quadrennial games. “I still can’t believe I was part of the Olympic medal-winning team,” he voiced.

“It’s a dream of every athlete and I am really blessed to be able to live this dream at the age of 21.”

Asserting about the efforts put down by the team to execute an exemplary play in the next game, Vivek said, “…this is just the beginning and there’s still a lot of room for improvement. We have raised the bar and we have to do even better. There will be more challenges ahead and we need to be fully prepared for whatever comes our way.”

The post Indian Hockey | Twice in a row Vivek being nominated for FIH rising star first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Thanks to Dilpreet Singh, Gurjeet Singh and Hardik Singh for scoring goals for India. The achievement has come after a long wait of four decades. Winning this game team India came to a step closer to win gold in the sport.

India, being the famed hockey team that won eight golds so far in the sport, was awaiting such a victory for decades. Manpreet Sandhu and his squad sealed victory scoring goals through Dilpreet Singh at 7′, Gurjant Singh at 16′ and Hardik Singh at 57′. While Sam Ward scored the lone goal for the opponent team at 45′.

India will now face world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.

India has a remarkable history in the sport. From 1928 to 1956, India won six consecutive golds in the most anticipated games. It was 1980 in Moscow when the last gold was named after India, at that time only six teams played at the event and there were no semifinals. The national team played the last semis in 1972 (Munich) against its arch-rival Pakistan and lost 0-2.

For a country like India, which is home to legendary players like Major Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh Sr. to name a few, such a long wait isn’t that exciting. The pain was inevitable.

In another match, Belgium triumph over Spain 3-1 in the quarterfinal and made their way to the semis.

In another semifinal match, Australia will face Germany.

With today’s accomplishment, India now stands a 5-4 win-loss record against Great Britain in the Olympic Games.

As soon as India won the match, Twitter got inundated with appreciation messages. Among them, a few renowned were hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore and others joined the queue congratulating the national team.

India Squad: P.R. Sreejesh (GK); Manpreet Singh (C), Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh

The post India beats Great Britain 3-1, enters Semis after 41 years first appeared on The History Book of Indian Hockey.

Hailing from Sonipat, Haryana, Nisha was born to a tailor father who works in a retail store. He was instrumental in her career in representing team India on the international stage. “He battled every day to make sure the family is having three meals. Such conditions didn’t discourage him and he always motivated me to play Hockey,” stated Nisha.

“Now, through hockey, I am confident I will be able to support my family financially and bring them out of poverty,” affirmed Nisha.

After a delay of one year due to the Covid pandemic, the Olympics is scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23. A high spirited Nisha is very grateful for the opportunity she had been provided with the Hiroshima event. “Since my debut in Hiroshima, I have been getting the right exposure and opportunity to prove myself and I feel very fortunate that I was picked in the squad for the Tokyo Olympics. Very few people get to live this dream so early in their international career,” said she, as quoted by The Bridge.

The Tokyo Olympics are about to kick off. Team India will face the Netherlands, World No. 1, in their first group match. Nisha, a firm believer, has deep faith in team India. She said the national team is focusing on speed work to ensure gaining peak at the right time. 

“With only weeks left before we leave for Tokyo, we are putting in all the hard work required and all of us in the team are pushing each other to perform better in every session. I am glad to be part of such a system where the entire Coaching staff is also pumped up to see that we peak at the right time. There is a lot of excitement within the team and all of us are looking forward to our first match against the World Champions Netherlands,” she added.

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