This is a watershed moment for Indian hockey. After all, we hadn't won a major tournament in so many years. And China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Pakistan are no pushovers. So to win the gold medal is a great effort.

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The bottom line is you need to win. India did that on Thursday. You can't be playing well and losing. I thought the most important thing that clinched the final for India was that they controlled the game. I think India enjoyed more of the possession. Most importantly, we have seen our teams ill-prepared for eventualities. But the way they started the shootouts, I told myself our boys are going to do it. Why? Because they had trained for it. As a former player, I was very confident when Akashdeep Singh went against his back to the goalkeeper. India won it tactically.

But I won't say India are No. 1 in Asia. Winning the Asian Games tournament doesn't guarantee you that. If, say, South Korea play India a week later, it will be a different ball game. So on a day when you have your chances, you have to utilise them. But for now, let's be happy that we have gained direct entry into the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

We have two years to prepare for the marquee event. We need to constantly play top teams like Australia, Germany, The Netherlands and England to improve at the world stage. The exposure that the players will get by playing these teams will hold them in good stead for Rio.

Also, India need to have a second string of players putting constant pressure on the current bunch. The moment complacency creeps into this side, the level of performance will go down. Every player needs to be challenged. I hope the selectors create a competitive atmosphere. For example, young Mandeep Singh is a constant threat to any guy in the team. We need at least three to four guys like him. The so-called established guys must be kept on their toes.

Head coach Terry Walsh was under immense pressure before the Asian Games. Had India lost, his head would've been on the chopping block. It doesn't matter if you're playing well, but if you don't produce results, you will be under pressure. So this win is going to help him a lot. And for the first time, I saw Roelant Oltmans (Hockey India high-performance director) excited on the field. He is generally a very calm guy. So it shows the kind of pressure they must have been in.—The writer was a member of the gold-winning team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He spoke to Rutvick Mehta