Indian hockey in 2024: Seeking peak success on the Olympic roller coaster

It’s time for India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams to put the blinkers on as Paris 2024 approaches.

Mercurial challengers: Harmanpreet Singh’s Team India is poetry in motion, flourishing when everything falls into place but can as easily slip into a cacophony of discordant notes. | Photo Credit: PTI

If roller-coaster were an adjective, Indian hockey would be the perfect example. If it were a verb, Indian hockey embodied it in all its glory. And if it were an object, Indian hockey would be the ultimate definition of it. Men, women, seniors, juniors, players, administrators — there are no outliers to unpredictability in Indian hockey, and 2023 was simply more of the same.

A year that started with the men’s team being touted as one of the favourites for the World Cup in January, only to fail to reach even the quarterfinals at home, at the fortress called Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, ended with a lone, narrow win against France in a five-nation tournament in Spain. But interspersed between the two were massive victories at the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) at home, the biggest prize of the year, the Asian Games gold, and a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It is the kind of unpredictability that Indian hockey teams have come to symbolise, results that make even their fiercest supporters wary of any predictions while hoping for the best at all times. A team that easily overwhelms Germany and Australia in the FIH Pro League, less than two months after the World Cup disaster, at the same venue with almost the same players. A team where captain Harmanpreet Singh can struggle to put stick to the ball throughout the World Cup and still end up as the top scorer in the Pro League. It is a team that’s poetry in motion, flourishing when everything falls into place but can as easily slip into a cacophony of discordant notes.

The World Cup loss resulted in more than just a longer wait for a shot at the big prize; it claimed coach Graham Reid and his support staff, brought in Craig Fulton, and an overhaul of the style and system of coaching. It also resulted in Paddy Upton joining the team as its first-ever full-time, travelling mind trainer. While the jury is still out on his impact, it was a long-pending demand that finally got fulfilled.

The ACT in August was the smaller of the two titles the men won in 2023 but was arguably the tougher one. For starters, the conditions were far from ideal — an unusually hot and humid Chennai with less than 48 hours to recover from cool European climes and jetlag for their first game and stronger opponents. In contrast, the Asian Games were more about the pressure of what was at stake in a foreign land where the Indian teams were not exactly favourites. The fact that the players managed to overcome both sets of challenges speaks well of not just their ability to adjust but also their faith in Fulton’s process. For the women, it was a less-than-fruitful year, but one that saw them end at sixth in the world, their best-ever return since the rankings were introduced. To finish above teams like England and New Zealand takes some doing, and even though the Asian Games bronze was not what the team would have hoped for, winning the Asian Champions Trophy just a month later, including a win against Asian Games Champion China, was the kind of boost it needed ahead of the all-important Olympic Qualifiers in January.

Glass half full: For the women’s hockey team, 2023 was a less-than-fruitful year, but one that saw it end at sixth in the world, its best-ever return since the rankings were introduced.  | Photo Credit: PTI

In Hangzhou too, the Indian women lost just one game, but that semifinal loss ended Paris hopes and put them on the longer route to the Olympics. It might leave the team with less time to prepare for the Games, but, on the flip side, it also adds to the already impressive amount of exposure the team desperately needs to do well on the world stage. Add the fact that it will be back in the Pro League in the upcoming season, and exposure is one area the women cannot complain about.

In fact, the number of international matches the Indian teams played throughout 2023 was one of the biggest positives. For a long time, the lack of exposure has been cited as a reason for India’s failure to break through on the world stage. In 2023, India played the maximum number of matches among all the top nations, both men and women — 36 for the men and 24 for the women — with an identical 66.67 per cent win percentage (24 for men and 16 for women).

The other common factor between the men’s and women’s teams is their clear superiority in the continent and contrasting struggles against teams from outside. If the men have repeatedly proven they are now miles ahead of the other Asian sides, the women, too, are among the best on the continent. But it is in Europe that their biggest challenge lies. The Indian women played against Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Australia in preparation for the Asian Games. But while they may have learned their lessons, they were unable to get victories. The five-nation event in December saw them lose to Spain, Germany, and Belgium, with a lone win against Ireland. The men too, while not completely outplayed, have been less than impressive; in the same tournament, India lost 7-2 to Belgium.

A bigger concern will be the inability of the junior teams, both men and women, to throw up too many challengers to the established names on the national team. The juniors both won the Asia Cup, but while the men finished fourth at the Junior World Cup for the second consecutive time, the women finished ninth, clearly indicating a need to re-look at the development process of a feeder line. The next six months will be all about working towards the biggest prize in the sport — the Olympics. While the men have their spot sealed as they dream of ending up on the podium yet again, hopefully with a change of medal colour, the women will have to get past the qualifying block first before firming up any plans for the coming months. How things pan out in Ranchi will not just decide the team’s schedule for the next few months but also its very core — the future of coach Janneke Schopman and quite a few of the senior players will depend on India ensuring a Paris ticket. It won’t be easy, though.

While on paper, India is the second-highest-ranked side — only former champion Germany is ranked higher at fifth — teams like New Zealand, the USA, and Italy will be no pushovers. Last time, India barely managed to edge past the USA (with Schopman on the other side) in the qualifiers. Playing at home will be a huge advantage, but India will still need to give its best with a young team and the absence of several experienced players.

None of the challenges on the field are insurmountable, though, provided things remain in order. The recent bribery allegations in Hockey India, questions and pressure on team management, and a general air of gradually slipping into the dangerous bygone days will be the biggest concern for a sport that has, in recent times, been applauded for the best administrative practices. Any deviation from that will be the biggest blow for Indian hockey. Then again, it will be on par with its roller-coaster image.