Success is not final, failure is not fatal

The India men's national field hockey team embodies the saying 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal'. The history of hockey can be traced to 16th century Scotland. There, players played a game that they called 'hokie', hitting a small ball around with small sticks. Some time in the late 18th century or the early 19th century, the British developed the first version of modern - day field hockey. During the British rule of India, the game made its way to our country. The first hockey club of India was formed in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1855. However, the Indian Hockey Federation was formed in 1925, a full seven decades later. In 1927, the Indian Hockey Federation applied for membership of the International Hockey Federation, and obtained membership.

The Indian team enjoyed a dream run for over thirty years, from 1928 to 1959. The team participated in the Olympics from 1928 onwards. In the 1928 tournament, India beat Austria, Belgium and Switzerland on their way to the final. They defeated the Netherlands in the final. India successfully defended their title at the 1932 Olympics, and proceeded to win a third successive Olympic title in 1936. The team that won three consecutive Olympic titles is regarded as one of the greatest hockey teams ever.

India continued their run of victories in the Olympics by defeating Austria, Argentina, Spain and Great Britain in 1948. Our team went on to complete a second hat - trick of wins, by winning the gold medal in 1952 and in 1956. Though India lost to Pakistan in the final of the 1960 Olympics, they brought home the Olympic gold in 1964. Our team slid to the third place in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

In 1976, synthetic astro-turf replaced the traditional grass surface on the Olympic hockey fields. The Indian team had no experience on astro-turf. For the first time, our team returned home empty - handed.

When one plays hockey on astro-turf, speed, stamina and strength matter more than skill. The pace of a match played on astro-turf is faster than that of a match played on grass. Indian hockey players began their career on grass, and found it difficult to adapt to astro-turf. The Indian hockey administration was slow to adopt astro-turf, placing our players at a massive disadvantage on the international arena.

In spite of these adversities, India brought home another Olympic gold medal in 1980.

This was followed by an unprecedented drought of Olympic medals. Following India's victory at the 1983 World Cup of cricket, hockey's popularity declined, and funds for hockey teams dried up.In 2008, the Indian men's team failed to qualify for the Olympics, hosted by China. This was the lowest point for men's hockey in our country.

India made a little progress by qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and again for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Graham Reid was appointed the coach, and Manpreet Singh took up captaincy. Under Reid's guidance, the Indian team adopted a philosophy of attack rather than defence. 

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the men's team made history by ending the long drought of medals. Our team won the bronze medal in the olympics, and followed this up with a gold at the 2023 Asian Games held at Huangzhou in China. The team's win at Huangzhou made them qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Our team's captain Harmanpreet Singh scored ten goals in the Olympics, becoming the top scorer. India won a second successive bronze medal, boosting the morale of hockey players in India.

Today, Indian hockey players have access to the latest equipment, and have training facilities comparable to those in the West. Both the men's and women's hockey teams are formidable on the world stage. Indian hockey now has the potential to re-ascend to its position of glory.

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