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The recent edition of the Men’s Champions Trophy held at Breda, Netherlands, stands as forerunner to show that the road back to the Golden Era for Indian hockey is finally ahead of us by the virtue of Harendra Singh’s stint as chief coach of the men’s team.
The three takeaways from India's campaign at this tournament:
#1 A Performance of gold
Despite the disappointment of losing the gold by a whisker, hockey fans all over the nation are happy with the performance that India put up in the tournament. The team has become mentally robust now.
They showed that they very much defeat the team in their minds before they step on to the turf and play to make it happen. They played every match like it’s just another team.
The tournament witnessed Indians surprising the Olympic champions Argentina. They then backed it up by thrashing Pakistan, and then held Belgium and the hosts Netherlands to a draw, which will remain a performance of gold and a feast for the hockey fans for a long time to remember.
Sreejesh, the great wall of Indian hockey, has guarded the citadel like a rock along with the robust defence line and exuberant young lads, and indeed took the whole performance to a new level on the world’s radar.
#2 An Indian coach with an Indian dream
Harendra Singh’s appointment as the chief coach has played the key role in the team’s transformation. Most of the players in the team have been trained by him during their career on the junior team. He knows the pulse of the team and is a strict believer in discipline. He can lead the team and most importantly can motivate them with the right words at the right time.
#3 Highlights off the field
In a first-of-its-kind association, the Odisha government has become the official sponsor for Indian Hockey in the month of February. Odisha has rich cultural heritage in hockey, it has been promoting the game relentlessly and has also been hosting the World Cup in Bhubaneshwar.
The honourable chief minister of Odisha, Mr. Naveen Patnaik has requested our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to officially recognise hockey as our national game. Hockey has been considered to be the national game for a long time and also has rich history with eight Olympic Golds, but there is no official status of it as the country's national game.
