What's ailing Indian women's hockey, and do we have a real shot at Paris Olympics?

Bronze medallists in Asian Games 2023, Indian Women's Hockey team will play in the qualifiers for the Paris Olympics in January. (Photo via Instagram/@savitapuniahockey)

Like any other sport, Indian hockey’s key battles are fought more in the board room than on the pitch. While many across sport, globally, are looking at a more collaborative approach, between coach/player and management, some in Hockey India, tend to use power where hockey sense lacks.

While we celebrate India winning the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), earlier this month in Ranchi, with the kind of authority not seen since the time Indian women won the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, it also needs to be said that it almost didn’t happen.

For that, one needs to go back to that fateful Asian Games semifinal against China. China’s first two goals came off cruel deflections of India’s first runner on the penalty corners. With their backs to the wall, India fought strong, yet in a game marked by low energy and a day where almost everything that could go wrong did, India had a PC disallowed and then what should have been a stroke was given as a PC. Pushing players upfront, India leaked two goals in the end and the score-line was a punishing 0-4. Deeply disappointed, almost broken, the team saw its dream of directly qualifying for Paris go up in smoke.

I can live with defeat knowing that I and the team have done everything that needed to be done. That is why the World Cup quarterfinal defeat against Spain was so difficult to digest after dominating 3 out of 4 quarters.

- Indian Women's Hockey coach Janneke Schopman

Even though the bronze medal match against Japan was still to be played, a senior Hockey India official had already pressed the trigger, telling the media, "What was the coach doing?"

But there was a bronze medal to play for. And after India beat Japan 2-1 to clinch 3rd place, an overcome, stressed out, Schopman broke down as TV cameras zoomed in.

It was only later revealed that Hockey India President, 2004 Olympic captain, Dilip Tirkey stood up for Schopman, refusing to even get into a discussion on a coach change. Tirkey who was present at the Asian Games, a witness to the semifinal against China, and also as a player/captain, has seen coaches being changed at the drop of a hat, explained the result as ‘these things happen’.

In fact, it was Tirkey who handed the bouquets to the Indian women players on the podium.

The result against China still confounds the players. Savita Punia, the Indian goalkeeper, and captain, says, “the regret will remain all life.” After the match and even now, after beating China 2-1 in Ranchi on October 30, going seven matches unbeaten to win the ACT, Punia says, there are no answers to ‘that’ Asian Games match. “The training before the Asian Games was top class, high intensity, everything had been done. We as a team were ready to win the Asian Games, the confidence was at a different level. After the AG semi-final, players were asked to explain what went wrong but nobody could.”

“I think the heat is taken by the coach,” Punia says. “Yes, the first two goals were deflections but as a team we also admit that the energy was low that evening.”

Schopman is clinical in explaining the turnaround that happened in Ranchi: “The ability to look at ourselves, ask uncomfortable questions, but we did struggle with the answers. We knew we had to fix something. There was a lot of soul-searching amongst the players, including myself.”

Schopman, a 2008 Olympic champion and a 2006 World Champion, says she never takes any team or result for granted. “I can live with defeat knowing that I and the team have done everything that needed to be done. That is why the World Cup quarterfinal defeat against Spain was so difficult to digest after dominating 3 out of 4 quarters.”

After coming back from the Asian Games, Schopman explains how she went away a little from herself. “I took a hard look in the mirror,” she says. “I took time off. Became more direct with the players. The girls were receptive in understanding what went wrong. You can analyse a lot if you are at 50 and want to move to 100. But, if you are at 95 and then analyse, it gets difficult.”

In a recent interview in The New Yorker, director of films like Black Rain, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Ridley Scott, spoke about the failure of Blade Runner and what it taught him: “I learned that the only opinion that matters, when all is said and done—even with failure in your face, and you’re lying on the mat, crushed—is, what did you think of it?”

In a similar vein, Schopman says: “You can’t control what people say and expect... But I always take a hard look at myself.” She continues: “In Tokyo, we did well, finishing fourth. But we can’t be occasional beaters. We must be more consistent and become world beaters. The view of the rest (the top four) about us is changing. I always want to win. In India, everybody wants everything fast, at lightning speed. It takes time. But looking at the process, it may be that we are not a top four team next year but in 3-4 years, we will be there.”

Just before the ACT campaign at Ranchi, Punia says, Schopman spoke to the team, telling them that you can’t change what happened (AG semis). But that there was another opportunity and that they had to prove they were ‘actually’ good.

Schopman doesn’t seem the kind to indulge in wasteful exercises like having the last laugh. In the end, it’s a continuous process, evaluating, analysing, and moving onto the next match, learning more from defeats and understanding what worked in a win may not work the next time. The sights are fixed on the Olympic Qualifying in Ranchi. Eight teams with four in each Pool play for three spots. India is in Pool B with New Zealand, United States, and Italy. In Pool A are Germany, Japan, Chile, and Czech Republic. The two teams playing the final and the 3rd placed team qualify for Paris.

“I would say that without the experience of playing the ACT, it would have been a tough task,” Schopman says of the upcoming qualifiers. “It’s a different experience playing in Ranchi. The players feed off the crowd. The atmosphere is great, and it is fantastic that we are playing the qualifiers there.”

Yet, come January 13, the pressure will be back on Schopman and as she might say "external or internal, it doesn’t matter".