There's a lot at stake for the Indian women’s hockey team as they take on Germany in the first semifinal of the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers today, January 18, in Ranchi. The winner will move to the final of the tournament, and cement their place in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Of course, the loser will still have another chance to make the cut for the Summer Olympics in a 3rd/4th place play-off, but that would be akin to rolling the dice in a Las Vegas casino and calling out the winning score-line.
Anxiety is virtually trademarked by India—currently not so much by the men's team as the women’s. Be it the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, or the Asian Games, if we take the Asian Champions Trophy out of the equation where India struck gold with seven consecutive wins, it has mostly been touch and go. The players feel it, as a team they go through despair but on the bench, on the sidelines, you see Janneke Schopman, almost living it, disquiet instead of blood coursing through her veins. Her face, most of the times, seems etched out of stone—elation, disappointment, happiness, as fleeting as a comet.
Also read: What's ailing Indian women's hockey, and do we have a real shot at Paris Olympics?
Germany (FIH ranking 5), one spot above us and going by the matches played in both Pools, appears not only well-rounded but like a wolfpack that moves into the offensive very quickly. The Germans are good at counterattack—simultaneously moving into snooze mode, holding the ball, bringing the pace down, killing the opponent.
Vulnerability, flair, and grit mark India’s play
The question is, which quality will dominate to ensure four quarters of consistent play? Germany's wolfpack counterattack or India's grit?
Against the US, India couldn’t create that finesse even as the defence showed determination while the midfield was completely vulnerable to turn-overs from the Americans. Against New Zealand, it was a dominating first-quarter performance before New Zealand—caught in that no-man’s land of going all out or playing half-paddle of not giving in any more goals—couldn’t really penetrate the Indian defence. Italy, a team that look good on the ball when moving up, didn’t have the penetrative powers as India took their chances to win 5-1.
An experienced Germany understands what’s at stake. For India, apart from all the compulsions of playing at home, it’s critical that they are in control, follow a pre-set process that should only be broken if the coach decides or allows it.
Schopman believes there are two teams, and both want to win. “I said this before; there were eight teams here that wanted to get into the Olympics and now there are four left. I think after that first game against us, where we were not really there or maybe fighting a little bit against ourselves, we are trying really hard. Germany's good, we know that. If we can play to our strength and then let's see what happens because it's a hockey game and anyone can win."
Systems, tactics, mental strength, especially if any team concedes in the opening minutes, will all play a role. Germany has experience of not just more international matches but even club games, where understanding and mentally conditioning yourself to different situations create a lab-like atmosphere. If they have seven players with more than 100 matches under their belt with four going over 150 matches, India also has seven with over 100 games, with Monika and Savita Punia (captain and goalkeeper) crossing 200 each; the difference being top-match experience.
There has been talk that Paris would see Punia play the last of her international matches; making the qualifying so important not only personally but also professionally with a team she adores and a coach she loves playing under. Repeatedly, she has said how she enjoys her conversations with Schopman, and both understand what needs to be done in every match, crucial or otherwise.
Punia wards off the ‘swan song’ queries like gloving an angled snapshot. “I have a lot of time, I am enjoying my goalkeeping,” the Indian captain answers. I would like to play whenever the team needs me."
Schopman’s pressure is different. If India qualifies for Paris, they would be at an Olympic Games for a third consecutive time, a streak no coach would want to break on their time. The other pressures of proving to a few people in Hockey India that she is good enough, especially after the bronze at the Asian Games, are not separate. She knows the cost of not taking the team to Paris. But a good coach thinks beyond that, in the larger interest of the team, and she know every player in this squad deserves to be in Paris. That is why one of her favourite words in the coaching manual is ‘consistency’, and she terms it an enigma for most teams.
“Consistency is this enigma where you have very good teams not playing well but they win. You know that's the strength of the great teams in the world and in any sport. That consistency is not perfect for us, but we are generally able to stay in the game and against USA it wasn't going our way, but what I was really happy that we kept in the fight.
“We didn't have a very good first-half (against Italy), after we scored and we struggled a little bit with our pressure, on the ball but to be fair we kept at it. That's consistency as well.”
Germany loves to be on the ball, creating in the midfield, pushing the flanks and that’s where India’s opportunities lie. If we fall back too deep, we are in trouble, constantly digging and coming out of a crevice. Playing up will keep the Germans at bay and allow India’s flair to show through. Lalremsiami, Salima Tete, Navneet Kaur and Beauty Dung Dung could create the penalty corners. The key will again lie in the midfield, especially on the shoulders of Neha. With her experience of close to 150 matches, she will need to rotate, spread the game and not be in a hurry to gives passes that result in a turn-over for Germany.
Eventually the semifinal will be a match of not only how the teams control the flow but also individual skill where every player’s self-control may decide small but crucial moments in the match. As Punia explains, “If you are focused on yourself, you can only control yourself. The rest of the scenarios are not in our control.”
The key to great things in sport is grasping those small opportunities; creating that tiny bit of space in a striking circle, the deft strike that zips past the goalkeeper, even that steal in the midfield or that long hit from the defence, smack onto a forward’s stick. Time for deliverance, can we say that!
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