‘Indian men’s hockey team must stick to their programme and grow more’

Indian men’s hockey team, at last**,** won a medal at the Olympics after a gap of 41 years as they defeated Germany 5-4 on Thursday in the bronze medal play-off at Tokyo 2020. 

A brace from Simranjeet Singh and strikes from Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Rupinder Pal helped India edge past the Germans, who had taken a 3-1 lead at one point. 

VR Raghunath was short of words as he shared his thoughts on the Men in Blue’s triumph in Tokyo. 

“It is a great day for Indian hockey. It is a dream come true for me. I could not do it in 15 years and now my close friend (PR) Sreejesh does it for me. I am just speechless. If I get a chance to go to Tokyo now, I will be there in a minute. It was a very difficult match. Nine-goal split 5-4 in a crunch match says it all. You can understand the pressure that they were in. On top of that, you have that 41-year jinx somewhere in your mind. The win was necessary to bring back Indian hockey where it should be,” Raghunath told Olympics.com.

The 32-year-old, who was part of the squad which participated at Rio 2016, pointed out that converting chances at crucial junctures of the game coupled with Sreejesh producing yet another top performance in goal helped India clinch the medal. 

“We got the opportunities and we converted them. We did not waste much today. That was the key. Moreover, we converted the penalty corners at the right time. There were two defensive mistakes and Germany went ahead 3-1, but in a knockout match, you can't tell anything. Maybe that spurred on the boys even more. Sreejesh stood in defence like a wall,” he explained. 

“Before half-time, we drew the match from 3-1 down and that gives you a psychological advantage. In the next quarter we pressed hard and high, and we were looking to go in attack at every given opportunity. The last six-to-seven minutes they were on a yellow which was also an advantage for us,” he elaborated. 

Raghunath has backed the current squad under Graham Reid to achieve even greater heights in the next few years as they can only build on the progress made. 

“This is a young team, and they should stay together. You have the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, the World Cup, and the Olympics all lined up. They will just grow as a team and after a short break, we must pull up our socks once again. To perform at this level, you have to stick to a programme and that's what they should do now,” he opined.