“You see a hockey player, you’d never know he’s a professional
athlete. But you put the shoes on him, and he becomes a beast.”
-Junior Seau
When most of the people in the country were mourning the loss
of India against New Zealand in the ODI match our another able
a team of men in blue was all set to win the Asia cup in an important
but not so popular sport of our country.
India again proved itself by winning the continental title after a long
wait of 10 years on Sunday. It was a moment of great joy and
happiness when India won the finals of hockey Asia cup by defeating
Malaysia by 2-1. The finals took place at Dhaka, Bangladesh. India
won this tittle earlier in the year 2003 and 2007. The stars of the
match were Ramandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay who scored one
goal each in 3 rd and 29th minutes respectively. The Malaysians were in
summit clash for the first time and tried their level best to win the
cup. In the 50th minute Malaysia restored its pride when Shahril
Saabah pulled one goal back. The Indians ranked 6th in the world and
the last minutes were quite crucial for both the teams, but the
defense played a very indispensable role in the match and did not
allow the opponents to score another goal. Mr Marijne Sjored the
new coach had a perfect start through this victory as the Asia Cup
was his maiden tournament in charge of the senior national side. The
top-ranked Indians concurred the series and were unbeaten in the
entire tournament, accept for one single match against Korea which
ended with an equal score of 1-1. This win was India’s second win
over Malaysia, having beaten them with 6-2 in the super 4 s stage. The
Indian’s were in a lead from the very beginning as the first goal was
made in the third minute of the match. Malaysia’s defense was not
easy to break but it could not survive long in front of the blue
brigade. The bronze medal was won by Pakistan by defeating Korea.
There is something really magical about hockey it has made the
country proud at every stage possible which also includes 11 Olympic
medals. It has given us gems like Major Dhyanchand, Balbir Singh sr.,
Dhanraj Pillay, Leslie Claudius, Sardara Singh, Sandeep Singh and
much more. These players have always hoisted the tricolor up high
through their wonderful game and sportsmanship, but still, Hockey is
trying to find its identity in the country.
