By B.Shrikant Mumbai, December 25, 2018 : .With a bronze medal in Tokyo Olympic Games history, Indian hockey teams enter 2022 with lots of things on their plates.This could prove to be an important year for both the Indian hockey teams as well as a test of their consistency and talent.
The 2022 season will prove to be busy for Indian hockey as the teams have to show that their success in Tokyo Olympics 2021 in July-August 2021 wasn’t a fluke and they are capable of repeating the result in future events.
The 2022 Games will prove to be crucial and very hectic in that regard.
They will include the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from July 28 through August 8, followed by the Asian Games at Hangzhou starting September 10-25.
With the women’s and men’s champions clinching direct entry to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Asian Games qualify them as a qualifying event.
The teams will be playing every other day from January to September, thanks to the full FIH League Pro League programme.
From July 1-17, women in India will have the World Cup in Terrassa (Spain) and Amstelveen (Netherlands).
This means that the Indian team has three major events within three months.
From January 21 to 28, in Bangkok, Thailand, the women’s team will start the crowded claendar.This is a qualifying event for World Cup.
Men’s teams will begin their 2022 season with Pro League matches in February, and finish in June.This will be followed quickly by the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
From January 13 to 29, 2023, the season’s culmination will be at Bhubaneswar or Rourkela.
India secured a spot as the hosts of the World Cup so that India does not need to be qualified for it.
The 2021 season was a great 2021, and both the Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams will be entering the 2022 season.
Men’s team took home a bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics, the first for Japan after 41 years.Women came in fourth place after narrowly losing out to Great Britain in thrilling playoff.
India won the last Olympic medal with the silver it took in 1980’s Moscow Olympics, which was boycotted.The team has been in constant failure since then and only managed to reach semifinal contention once or twice.
Manpreet Singh’s and his sons saw their fortunes change at Oi Hockey Stadium, the Japanese capital.Years of heartbreak ended in joy after they experienced a miracle.
India reached Japan with high spirits, despite the fact that their preparations were marred by the Covid-19 pandemic which caused the Olympic Games to be postponed for one year starting in 2020.
No one could have predicted the end of it all when the men’s teams made it to the final eight stages.They finished second behind the World No.1.Australia, Group A.
India was eliminated from the tournament after India beat Great Britain with a 2-2 draw in Group B.
India beat Great Britain 3-1 in their last eight clash.Graham Reid’s team was defeated 2-5 by World Champions Belgium, but the boys won 5-4 against Germany to win the bronze.
With a victory over Australia, Belgium added the Olympic gold to its World Cup title.
After a win of 4-3 in a match with South Africa, the women’s team was transformed into a Cinderella Story.
The coach had the final-eight stage set as his target, but the team’s girls achieved it by placing fourth.
India defeated Australia in the quarterfinals, beating them twice.
They were under tremendous pressure from the Hockeyroos, who displayed a remarkable defensive performance.
In a closely fought semifinal, they lost 1-2 to Argentina.
Rani Rampal’s side missed a few good chances to win the match.
After a remarkable comeback that took them to 3-2 just before half-time, the Indians lost 3-4 to Great Britain.
Rani and her team were unable to handle the pain after their incredible performance captured the attention of the nation.
This was only the third Olympics for this team, and they surprised everybody with their amazing campaign.
In contrasting ways, the year was over for both women’s and men’s teams.With a weaker squad, the men took bronze in Asian Champions Trophy.
They defeated archrivals Pakistan to win the bronze medal match.
After a Covid-19-positive player, the women’s team was forced to pull out of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy, Donghae (South Korea)
The junior men’s national team rose to the occasion with hopes of winning the 2016 World Cup India at Lucknow.
They reached the semifinal and lost to Germany 2-5.The Indians were able to win a bronze medal, but they lost their way and fell short of the goal.
Indian athletes won the FIH star awards 2021, with Harmanpreet Singh winning the women’s category and Gurjit Kaur the player of the year.P.R.P.R.Graham Reid and Sjoerd Martijne were awarded the Coach of the Year.
India finished the year in third position, an unprecedented achievement, according to the year-end rankings.Women were placed ninth.
All in all, the brilliant performances at the Olympics proved that Indian hockey has not died, despite being in deep despair for the past decade.Now, they must continue the revival of Indian hockey in 2022.
Given the busy schedule, and the fact Coronavirus is spreading more rapidly than ever before, it will be difficult.
This is a major obstacle that the Indian teams must overcome if they want to be successful in 2022.
Their potential has been demonstrated in 2021.Now they must prove that consistency in 2022.
This is another year of greatness for Indian hockey.
The 2021 year will be a landmark one:
* Bronze medal for the men’s team at Tokyo Olympics
* The fourth place finish for the women’s team at Tokyo Olympics
* Bronze medal for the men’s team in Asian Champions Trophy
* India finishes fourth at the Junior Men’s World Cup, Bhubaneswar
India wins the FIH Star Awards 2021, Harmanpreet Singh & Gurjit Kaur winning the Player of Year in respective categories.
Here are the key dates for 2022
*January 21-28, 2022 Asia Cup Bangkok, Thailand
* Jan-June: FIH Pro League for men and women
* July 1, 2017 – Women’s World Cup in Terrassa (Spanish) and Amstelveen (Netherlands).
* August 28-August 8: Commonwealth Games, Birmingham (men & women).
*September 10-25, Asian Games in Hangzhou (China) for men and women
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