Asian Games 2018: Battle of prestige for Indian men's hockey

Former national men's hockey team coach Terry Walsh had an interesting take on the sport at the Asian Games.

The Australian, who was sacked months after the 2014 Incheon Games, believed that the reward for winning the Asiad — a direct qualification to the Olympics — isn't always ideal.

"There's a very strong argument which says that you don't want to qualify (for Olympics) automatically. Because when teams do that, quite often it takes the sting out of the preparation. And you can lose a bit of that impact," Walsh told this paper after India won the hockey gold in Incheon.

While Walsh's theory might have some substance to it, the scenario staring at the Indian men's hockey team this time around is quite different.

In 2014, the team went into the Asian Games on the back of some impressive results, none more than a creditable silver-medal finish at the Commonwealth Games (CWG).

However, as good as India's 2014 CWG show was, their Gold Coast sojourn this year was as disappointing.

The team finished fourth and its aftermath resulted in coach Sjoerd Marijne being axed from the men's team.

And while a silver medal at the Champions Trophy in June did undo some wrongs of the Gold Coast CWG, PR Sreejesh and his troops know too well that they can ill-afford to have another CWG-like outing at the Asian Games in a crucial year for Indian hockey.

"It's about prestige now," Sreejesh told DNA.

"When it comes to Asian Games, it's always considered a major event in Asia, more so in hockey.

"So for us, it's definitely a prestige thing. Winning the Asian Games will be a really proud moment for us, and the ticket to Olympics acts as a big bonus," he added.

The India captain is clear that there can be no substitute to winning the Asian Games and sealing a direct ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The desperation is more so because they're defending their reputation as the best hockey team in Asia, with India now ranked fifth in the world.

"We won the last Asian Games as well as Asia Cup last year. So, we want to defend the place where we're at right now," Sreejesh said.

"The fact that we're the defending champions acts as a boost for us. We have improved our rankings, and our recent performances have been good as well.

"It only gives us more confidence in our game and the kind of hockey that we are playing right now," the goalkeeper added.

The Harendra effect

That confidence also stems from the change of coaching guard, with Harendra Singh taking over from Marijne after the CWG.

The Indian, who was coach of India's 2016 Junior World Cup-winning team and then the senior national women's team, doesn't believe in terms like "process", a word probably thrown around the most in Indian hockey by foreign coaches over the last decade.

Harendra is a man who believes in delivering results, no matter the circumstances and challenges.

In his first assignment, he turned the team around from its CWG disappointment and took it to the final of Champions Trophy, and the defeat to Australia in penalty shootouts in the final despite fighting hard acted as little consolation.

It's safe to assume that Harendra's face is bound to turn red if the team doesn't win gold, for he is also looking ahead to the third key tournament this year: the FIH World Cup in November in India.

"Winning a gold will be good for Indian hockey, good for the players, good for the team, good for the entire nation," Harendra told this paper.

"We want to carry the momentum from Asian Games into the World Cup. We haven't reached the semifinals in any World Cup for many years now, and we want to change that," he added.

Change is the buzzword in Indian hockey at present.

The 32-year-old Sreejesh, who made his international debut in 2006 and has been an integral part during the highs and lows of Indian hockey over the last decade, said it was about time this mentality change hit Indian hockey.

"We needed this change in mindset," he said.

"When I joined the team, we were ranked 11th or 12th in the world, and it has taken all these years for us to reach No. 5. We have worked really hard to earn this position.

"Now, it is our responsibility to improve this, or pass this legacy to the youngsters so that they can take things forward and improve the rankings, from 5th or top-4 or top-2. So, we're on the right track," he added.

Dreaming big is one thing, and believing in it is quite another. But this Indian team falls in the latter category, and that, perhaps, is the biggest change in Indian hockey.

"The change is showing in our winning mentality, and the players are getting the rhythm of winning. We want to retain that with us. We are now familiar with the pressure of playing quarterfinals or semifinals in major tournaments, because we have been there quite a few number of times now. We know we can achieve more under Harendra sir," Sreejesh said.

For now, though, an Asian Games gold will be just right.

India men’s hockey squad

Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (C), Krishan B Pathak

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar, Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit Rohidas

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (VC), Simranjeet Singh, Sardar Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad

Forwards: SV Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh

India’s fixtures

August 20 vs Indonesia
August 22 vs Hong Kong
August 24 vs Japan
August 26 vs South Korea
August 28 vs Sri Lanka

FLASHBACK 2014

Men’s hockey

The Indian men’s hockey team returned with a gold medal from Incheon, winning four, losing one and drawing one match throughout their campaign. India had beaten Sri Lanka, Oman and China in the league stage, but went down to Pakistan 1-2. In the semifinals, they beat South Korea 1-0, before edging past Pakistan in penalties in the final.