India made history at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow winning the Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup, beating the flavour of the tournament, Belgium, 2-1. India managed to get both its goals in the first half, a spectacular performance against a team whose goalkeeper won the Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award, having managed three clean sheets.
Also read: Twitter reacts as India win the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup
For the hockey fan, there are many things to adore about this Under-21 team that won the trophy after 15 long years, and kudos to the coach Harendra and the support staff of the senior team, who were there to provide extra assistance. Here are five memorable aspects of the victorious campaign:
#1 Revenge served cold against Australia
India defeated Australia, the hockey superpower in the semi-finals and finally had their revenge. Australia had defeated India in the Final of the 1997 Junior World Cup in England through a narrow margin, 3-2.
What was magnificent was the way the Indian players kept their cool. Australia scored first but India came back to score two goals and take the lead, before Australia equalised towards the end of the match.
However, India were phenomenal in penalties, scoring four out of four even as goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya saved two Australian penalties to help India sail through to the final.
#2 Teamwork more than reliance on superstars
Despite being Champions, the Indian team didn’t win even a single individual award, showing how teamwork came to the fore rather than extraordinary dependence on one player. Simranjeet and Harmanpreet were excellent but they were not the only contributors to India’s wins.
In the league stage, goals were scored by Mandeep, Varun, Ajit, Harmanpreet, Parvinder, Qureshi, Simranjeet and Harjeet. That is a lot of goal-scorers for one team. Then, it was Gurjant who surfaced as the big-match player scoring a goal each in the all-important Semi-Final and the Final, showing how India had several forwards, halfbacks and fullbacks who could rise to the occasion.
#3 Breaking the hoodoo
Like the cricket team in 2011, the junior hockey team also broke a hoodoo by winning the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup. No team had ever won the World Cup as a host. India became the first host nation to win the Trophy doing so in front of a packed stadium on its home turf. Lucknow was probably the good-luck charm the Indians needed and the great host-jinx was finally broken.
While doing so, India also became only the second team after Germany – which won the Junior Hockey World Cup 6 times – to win the Junior World Cup more than once. India had previously won it once in 2001. Australia, Pakistan and Argentina are the other three teams to win the World Cup once.
#4 Come-from-behind victories
The spirit of the Indian team was indomitable right through their unbeaten streak during the tournament. Apart from the tense penalty shoot-out which they won in style against Australia, India had also registered several come-from-behind victories.
They were a goal down against England in the league stage. Nevertheless, they smashed 5 goals before England could find the net again. In the Quarter-Final, India were behind once again when Spain scored in the first half and kept the lead intact for more than half an hour. But India equalised eventually before Harmanpreet scored the winner through a penalty corner towards the fag end of the game.
In the Semi-Final, Australia scored first and the Men in Blue had to wait for nearly half an hour to equalise but then scored twice within the span of 6 minutes. It was evident that the Indian team was unfazed despite conceding the lead several times.
#5 Fast pace
For years, Indian hockey aficionados watched wistfully as European teams overtook India, once a superpower in hockey, with their aggressive and fast-paced game. India was largely reliant on individual skills but fell behind in terms of intensity.
However, the Junior Team were like a breath of fresh air playing a style of hockey that most Indians are not used to – fast counter-attacks, high intensity and relentless attack instead of getting defensive.
This was evident even in the Final where India, despite being 2-0 up, continued to attack Belgium from both flanks without falling back contented and merely trying to defend the lead. The tackling was brilliant and so was the man-to-man marking making the Indian goal almost impregnable.
