 "Stepping into the big league")
On a sunny afternoon in Antwerp last week, Savita Poonia played the most outstanding match of her short international career, valiantly thwarting a ferocious Japanese onslaught that nearly imperiled the Indian team's chances of making it to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Only a couple of years ago, Poonia was helplessly shuttling between government offices to land a job in her home town of Sirsa in Haryana. This was after she had been named the best goalkeeper at the 2012 Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia - a tournament in which the Indian women clinched bronze.
Last Saturday, the 25-year-old Poonia just shuttled between the sticks - with much more joy though. Poonia's Lev Yashin-like performance in goal ensured that India finished fifth in the World League Semifinals, and now stand on the cusp of qualifying for Rio. With all continental champions getting a direct ticket to the Olympics and most teams participating in multiple qualifying tournaments, spots are likely to open up - meaning that the Indian women's side has a strong chance of qualifying. It was in 1980 that India last appeared at the Olympics - that too after a host of countries had pulled out of the Moscow Games owing to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan the previous year.
Unlike the men, the history of the women's game in the country has been rather lustreless. While the men have seen an upswing in their performances in the last year, the women have been easily overpowered and made to look painfully prosaic even by average European oppositions. Their failure to compete with the Europeans in terms of muscle and technique, coupled with only scant opportunities of competing with the top teams, has played a major role there. That's what makes the team's passage to Brazil so remarkable.
Roelant Oltmans, Hockey India's high performance director, praised the team's willingness and desire in its Antwerp showing but was quick to concede that the struggles against New Zealand and The Netherlands showed that there was still a long way to go. India will have to show more than just willingness and desire if they are to have any chance of making a dash at the Olympics - something that former players rule out for now.
There has to be drastic improvement in the next few months if they are to seriously challenge in Rio. More important, India should first assert their superiority in Asia and then target Europe. There are teams in Asia that are better than India. The focus must be on becoming the finest in the continent first.
India hasn't won a major international event in 11 years now. Under captain Suraj Lata Devi in the early 2000s, India clinched gold at three major championships - 2002 Commonwealth Games, 2003 Afro-Asian Games and the 2004 Asia Cup. There has been little joy since. However, what is heartening is the influx of young, talented players into the national fold. Rani - who has already notched up more than 200 international caps - Poonia, along with midfielders Sushila Chanu Pukhrambama and Amandeep Kaur are seasoned players who can lead the line for India for some years to come.
But promise can only do very little in a sport that is becoming increasingly strenuous. Fitness is the most important factor in today's game. For the Indian women to compete with the best, training, along with technique, has to get better. With the team's next major assignment months away, coach Mathias Ahrens will be looking to forge a battle-hardened side that can take on the world the way its male counterparts once did.
Last Saturday, the 25-year-old Poonia just shuttled between the sticks - with much more joy though. Poonia's Lev Yashin-like performance in goal ensured that India finished fifth in the World League Semifinals, and now stand on the cusp of qualifying for Rio. With all continental champions getting a direct ticket to the Olympics and most teams participating in multiple qualifying tournaments, spots are likely to open up - meaning that the Indian women's side has a strong chance of qualifying. It was in 1980 that India last appeared at the Olympics - that too after a host of countries had pulled out of the Moscow Games owing to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan the previous year.
Unlike the men, the history of the women's game in the country has been rather lustreless. While the men have seen an upswing in their performances in the last year, the women have been easily overpowered and made to look painfully prosaic even by average European oppositions. Their failure to compete with the Europeans in terms of muscle and technique, coupled with only scant opportunities of competing with the top teams, has played a major role there. That's what makes the team's passage to Brazil so remarkable.
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In Belgium, Poonia wasn't the only one who put in a rousing performance. Ritu Rani, the team's skipper, was prolific in front of goal; Jaspreet Kaur looked menacing with her drag flicks; and the team showed the kind of cohesion and organisation that you would not associate with an Indian side. The women's game, unlike the men's, is ultra competitive. Teams such as China, Japan, Italy and Argentina - relative minnows on the men's side - are robust oppositions that are easily far more superior to India in the talent stakes. In fact, China has already made it to Rio, and Argentina has been one of the most consistent teams in the last decade. The fact that India showed enough bite to compete with these teams is ample proof of the progress they've made.
Roelant Oltmans, Hockey India's high performance director, praised the team's willingness and desire in its Antwerp showing but was quick to concede that the struggles against New Zealand and The Netherlands showed that there was still a long way to go. India will have to show more than just willingness and desire if they are to have any chance of making a dash at the Olympics - something that former players rule out for now.
There has to be drastic improvement in the next few months if they are to seriously challenge in Rio. More important, India should first assert their superiority in Asia and then target Europe. There are teams in Asia that are better than India. The focus must be on becoming the finest in the continent first.
India hasn't won a major international event in 11 years now. Under captain Suraj Lata Devi in the early 2000s, India clinched gold at three major championships - 2002 Commonwealth Games, 2003 Afro-Asian Games and the 2004 Asia Cup. There has been little joy since. However, what is heartening is the influx of young, talented players into the national fold. Rani - who has already notched up more than 200 international caps - Poonia, along with midfielders Sushila Chanu Pukhrambama and Amandeep Kaur are seasoned players who can lead the line for India for some years to come.
But promise can only do very little in a sport that is becoming increasingly strenuous. Fitness is the most important factor in today's game. For the Indian women to compete with the best, training, along with technique, has to get better. With the team's next major assignment months away, coach Mathias Ahrens will be looking to forge a battle-hardened side that can take on the world the way its male counterparts once did.