The 43-Year Itch

Indervir Grewal in Chandigarh

The wait for a medal has been long. The team’s climb in rankings over the past four years has raised hopes of a successful tournament

Indervir Grewal in Chandigarh

This winter, watch 18 Indian men go on a long, arduous and unpredictable journey into the unknown. Join the young warriors as they take on the world for a prestigious and elusive prize. There will be a bigger cast — with all top stars and India’s biggest nemesis — more thrills, suspense… and much more, unfolding in the land of an ancient kingdom where once the great Kalinga War was fought...

This could be mistaken for a promo of a Hollywood movie, but this would be the advertisement — if ever a big Hollywood production house decided to make one — for the 14th edition of the hockey World Cup.

Looking past the hyperbole, this year’s World Cup, with its new format, has the potential to be the most exciting in recent times. The tournament in Bhubaneswar will be the longest-ever World Cup — 19 days. It will see the highest number of teams participating — only once before, in 2002, has the World Cup had 16 teams. After a long time, India are being considered as genuine medal contenders — they are ranked No. 5 in the world, have won more medals in the past four years than in the previous 10-15 years, and have the home advantage with a passionate crowd supporting them.

Unpredictable format

And the new format, with more knockout matches, could make this edition the most exciting and unpredictable ever. For the first time, the men’s World Cup will have quarterfinals. Even to reach the last eight, there would be a knockout crossover match. The format was first introduced in the women’s World Cup in July-August. Ireland and Spain, both outside the Top-10 in the world rankings, sprung a surprise by finishing second and third, respectively.

The unpredictability of knockout matches could work in India’s favour. A side known for blowing hot and cold — losing to a lower-ranked team one day and beating a big gun such as the Netherlands the next day — India have a real chance of reaching the quarterfinals if they get through their pool without any shocks. India have world No. 3 Belgium, Canada and South Africa in their pool, and finishing second shouldn’t be an issue.

“There is no doubt we want to win every match in the pool stage, earn the three points from each match and top the pool to make it to the quarterfinals,” said India captain Manpreet Singh. “That is our first hurdle. It’s the World Cup and every team will come with the intention of winning and we do not want to take any team lightly — be it South Africa or Canada,” he added.

Young team, big burden 

From the quarters onwards, it will be one match at a time. By winning one match, India will be assured of their best finish at the World Cup since 1975. One more win and India will be assured of only their fourth World Cup medal. And another win, the big one, will take the current bunch to the top of the podium for only the second time in India’s history, emulating the Ajit Pal Singh-captained side of 1975.

The wait for a medal has been long and the Indian team’s climb in rankings over the past four years, and the medals they have won, has increased the level of expectations. Since the Asian Games gold in 2014, the Indian team has won two silver medals in the Champions Trophy and two bronze medals in World League Finals.

The pressure of the World Cup would be huge. Add to it the high expectations of Hockey India, fans and former players. All that burden of expectations will fall on the shoulders of a fairly young team. Of the 18 members, only PR Sreejesh is in his thirties, while 13 players are 25 or below, including 19-year-old Dilpreet Singh. “We have chosen the best available combinations. The final team is a mix of experienced players and youngsters. They have been selected on the basis of their current form and fitness,” India coach Harendra Singh said. The team includes seven players from the 2016 Junior World Cup-winning team, and the coach feels that having been through the same pressure at the Lucknow event would help the players.

Home support

The biggest factor that makes India favourites for a medal this year is the home support. Apart from the Junior World Cup win, India’s two World League Finals medals also came at home. Bhubaneswar, in particular, has been a good venue for India. The crowd support, with packed stadiums on all India’s match days, in Bhubaneswar makes it one of the best venues to watch hockey. For the World Cup, the stadium’s capacity has been doubled to 15,000.

In both the two tournaments India played in Bhubaneswar, they reached the semifinals. And both times, they beat Belgium in the semifinals. But in the 2014 Champions Trophy, they fell to lower-ranked Pakistan in the semifinals.

Return of Pakistan

If India don’t finish first in their pool, there is a chance they could face Pakistan or Malaysia in the crossover match. Pakistan and Malaysia are pooled alongside Germany and the Netherlands. Pakistan are returning to the World Cup after missing out in 2014, while both Pakistan and Malaysia were missing from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Both are determined to put up a good show, and despite being lower-ranked, have a habit of troubling India in big matches.

This has been a big issue for India this year. Their level drops in crucial matches, even when facing lower-ranked teams. They lost to New Zealand in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games and to Malaysia in the semifinals of the Asian Games.

More recently, they barely got past Japan (3-2) in the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy, despite having thrashed the same team 9-0 in the pool stage.

India are not known for being consistent, but they have found a way to start winning medals at big tournaments. The World Cup, though, is at a different level and India will have to play their best hockey; and with the tournament being so long, India will have to maintain their level throughout. Only then would the current bunch be able to make its own history.

Pacing will be key

The tournament will be like a marathon. For only the second time in the World Cup history, 16 teams will be participating. The teams will be spread across four pools. The tournament will start with a long pool stage. On demand from the broadcaster, the world governing body (FIH) has decided to hold only two matches per day, thus increasing the number of days. Each team will play three matches over a period of eight days — pacing will be key and finding form on match day difficult. “It is most important that the players realise from the start that the competition needs a different approach because of the time between matches, particularly in the opening stages,” Malaysia coach Roelant Oltmans told FIH recently. The tournament will, then, enter a hectic final phase, with four knockout stages in seven days. Only the top team from a pool will be guaranteed of a spot in the quarterfinals. The teams finishing second and third will play crossover matches with teams from other pools to reach the quarters.

Dreams of podium 

With a lot of perseverance, some brilliance and little luck, India can win a medal this time. They have the new format working in their favour. Their high rank, world No. 5, has put them in an easier pool. They have world No. 3 Belgium, No. 11 Canada and No. 15 South Africa in Pool C. Wins over the lower-ranked teams will ensure that they finish in the top-two at least. As second-placed team from their pool, India will, likely, play a weaker team in their crossover match. Pool C teams will play crossover matches with Pool D, which has world No. 4 the Netherlands, No. 6 Germany, No. 12 Malaysia and No. 13 Pakistan. India’s road to the quarters seems easy on paper, but it will be their performance on the field that will determine what they achieve.

Turf gets a makeover

To host the World Cup, the Kalinga Stadium got a complete makeover. Two new stands were constructed to increase the capacity, which has been doubled to 15,000. The synthetic turfs at the main and practice grounds were replaced. The state government reportedly spent around Rs 200 crore for the makeover, which included sprucing up the surroundings as well. The stadium hosted the Champions Trophy in 2014 and World League Finals last year.

A state for sport

Odisha is determined to make sport work for it. The state has put its weight, and money, behind the World Cup. The state also sponsors the men’s and women’s national teams. Globally, hockey struggles to find sponsorship. However, funding is not a problem in India — that’s one reason the World Cup is being held in India for the second time in eight years. Odisha has plans to spend over Rs 350 cr on sport in the current financial year. Not bad, compared to Rs 2,196.35 cr allocated for sport by the Centre.  The state has a team in the Hockey India League, Kalinga Lancers, and hosts their matches regularly. It has also hosted the World Hockey League Finals. It supported a literary sports event last month. Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, AR Rahman and Shah Rukh Khan have been roped in to promote the World Cup.

India at World Cup

Best finishes

Gold 1975
Silver 1973
Bronze 1971
Fifth 1982, 1994
Sixth 1978

Worst finishes

Last (12th) 1986
11th 2006

Last two editions

2014 9th
2010 8th