Breaking the jinx

Rohit Mahajan in Paris

Jarmanpreet Singh threw his arms out and shrieked and shouted his delight out. PR Sreejesh, the oldest man on the blue turf of the Yves du Manoir Stadium, sank to his knees, his eyes animated, his mouth issuing words of joy, delight. Manpreet Singh, captain from Tokyo 2020 and the elder statesman of the team, has a spring in his step until the very last second. Harmanpreet Singh, Manpreet’s successor, was world-class, as ever, as was Abhishek; in the midfield, Hardik Singh was electric.
Whatever happens from here onward, Indian hockey’s stars would always have Paris.

If India’s 3-2 win over the Australians in their Pool B match seems incredible, there is good reason for that — it is indeed incredible. When India last beat Australia in an Olympics match, hockey was played on grass — Bangladesh had been free for less than one year, Indira Gandhi was at the height of her power in India, terrorism was yet to reach Punjab, the Cold War was at its peak, and apartheid in South Africa was going strong.
The past is another country; today the Indian hockey team took the watcher to that past — India’s first win over Australia in 52 years, and the first ever on synthetic turf, which was introduced in the Olympics in 1976.
They outdid Australia in defence; what’s more, they outdid Australia in attack. “They (Indian players) have an attacking DNA and it’s nice to see. It’s nice hockey,” Craig Fulton, the India coach, said. “Australia threw everything at us, which was nice. They could have scored one or two as well. So it’s a good game.”
It began well, too. Shamsher Singh and Mandeep Singh drew saves from goalkeeper Andrew Charter early on; the goal came when, in the 13th minute, Shamsher latched on to the ball outside the D, passed it to Abhishek and he, turning around in a flash, hit the ball in, flicking the goalkeeper’s right pad. A minute later, it was 2-0 when Harmanpreet smashed the ball in off a penalty corner, beating Charter and a defender.
Australia attacked in waves, but Sreejesh thwarted the attacks, denying Tom Wickham and Tim Brand. Australia pulled one back through a penalty corner in the 25th minute. India restored the two-goal cushion with a goal in the 32nd minute: Harmanpreet’s drag-flick on a PC was stopped by Flynn Ogilvie — but off his foot! India won a penalty stroke, and Harmanpreet scored, his sixth goal at Paris 2024. Leading 3-1, India weathered the storm at the end, conceding a second with only five minutes to go.
The 3-2 win left the Indian players, tired and on their haunches on the turf, delighted, the sizeable Indian section delirious.
“Our defence was very good,” said Manpreet moments after the win, breathless and exhausted. “We didn’t give them a free shot. We thought we’d not allow them a shot at goal — even if we got hit, even if we conceded. All of us were going back and defending.”
Indeed they were, swiftly moving back and forth across the length of the pitch.
“When we don’t have the ball, everyone is a defender,” said Sreejesh. “Being the goalkeeper, I’m the last line of defence. Everyone did their job.”
“I don’t know that much history, brother,” Sreejesh said when told his role in India’s first Olympics win over Australia in 52 years. “But I’m happy, after a few losses to Australia, we’ve won!”
A caveat — Australia haven’t been in top gear, having been smashed 6-2 by Belgium, made to struggle by Ireland. Today they seemed to be missing their famed diehard, bloody-minded will to attack. No Australian team, however, is weak, and India’s victory was well-earned, the joy justified.