DNA Edit: Hockey World Cup dreams soured - India lost to a superior team

The Hockey World Cup, being held in Bhubaneswar, has been described “as the biggest prize and the most cherished victory in hockey alongside the Olympics”.

India put up a fierce fight as one of the claimants to the crown. But Netherlands proved to be better yet again. In six previous World Cup encounters, India have never beaten Netherlands. In this World Cup, Netherlands’ performance against Germany and Canada wasn’t spectacular.

On the other hand, India had go off to a spectacular start when they defeated South Africa 5-0 on the opening day of the tournament. It has fielded the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 23. Though experienced players like skipper Manpreet Singh and Birendra Lakra form the spine of the team, its heart is infused with young blood.

However, what India lacks is consistency. And, unfortunately, it failed to turn the home crowd advantage into a win. Looking back, India hasn’t won the World Cup since 1975. Its next best position was fifth, that too in front of a home crowd, when the World Cup was held in Bombay in 1982. But there was a time when South Asia dominated the game — Pakistan, with four World Cup titles, is the most successful team in the history of the Cup.

The history of hockey in India is a tale of hitting the crest and trough. Indians were the uncrowned kings of hockey at the Olympics from 1928 to 1956, winning six successive golds. Such sterling achievements were supplemented by two more golds — one at Tokyo in 1964 and the other at Moscow Olympics in 1980. After the peak came the slow decline with one silver at Rome in 1960 and two more bronzes at Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972). In the last 30 years, it simply went downhill.