By PR Sreejesh
India’s status as a global hockey powerhouse has once again been established at Paris 2024. I could not have asked for a better parting gift from my teammates who have shown resilience to combat with the best in the world. And five of them in our national squad have just started their journey.
My responsibility for Indian hockey will begin afresh. I will carry forward more than two decades of experience and imbibe those lessons to the next generation of Indian hockey players. Sharing personal experience is one part of the learning curve but what makes the real difference is the overall ecosystem that aids in development and progression.
I will be carrying the Indian flag at the Paris 2024 closing ceremony on Sunday. Alongside me, there will be shooter Manu Bhaker, youthful, skilful and with plenty of dreams. Manu is a good 14 years younger than me. She has created Olympic history and she can only get better from here. One thing that we both have in common is the fire in our bellies. That element is regardless of age. That’s a major driving force for achieving Olympic excellence.
Force comes from a process. This comes with careful and meticulous planning. From my Olympic journey that started at London 2012, I have seen how the support system has changed. The government has played a major role in creating infrastructure and the intervention of our Hon’ble Prime Minister is there to see. Now we can’t make excuses that we don’t have the best facilities.When the PM says that a medal in hockey lifts the collective consciousness of a billion Indians, it motivates us to stretch every sinew in our body. That’s what we did in Paris. It is unthinkable to win an Olympic quarterfnal match (against Great Britain) playing almost 75 per cent of the time with just 10 men. That’s an indication of the belief we had here.
We had five young boys who made their debut in Paris. There were 11 from the Tokyo 2020 squad. This great mixture gave us plenty of legs and experience. We play against the most powerful athletes in the world. But the way we trained at SAI, Bangalore, we were at the peak of human endurance.
The National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Bangalore has been my home for nearly 15 years now. It has been the home for the Mens Hockey Team during both the Tokyo and Paris cycle. During this time, we barely took leaves to see our family members, but we had a mission and I must say the facilities in Bangalore prepared us very well for the Olympics. Home it was for us at the NCOE. We spent 740 days in this cycle at the national camp held there. The government took every care that we were comfortable in every possible way. From a brand new turf similar to the one that was used in Paris, an international standard gym worth crores to sports science, every detail was taken care of by the SAI authorities. Every player is by and large a foodie. The North Indians love their dal chawal but to have the right diet is important since we travelled 19 times overseas for training camps. To get used to the usually bland type of food in Europe, we had cooks who prepared Chinese and Continental dishes. Getting the right food and the right support naturally increased our commitment level for the nation. More than 40 crores have been spent on us in the Paris cycle. Every match at the 2024 Olympics was a tough one. But our coach Craig Fulton, in a short space of time, gave space to every member of the team, junior or senior, and that bondage reflected in our display. To build trust was important and Craig did a fine job. The blending was perfect.
Winning the Tokyo 2020 bronze after 49 years was a milestone. In our careers, we only heard about the legacy of Indian hockey at the Olympics. To win a medal ourselves was special. Paris 2024 in an affirmation of what we can do. Now players arrive at the Olympics to win a medal and not just participate. This is the mood of the new generation and given the support the Khelo India ecosystem is creating, the future can only get better.