There's Hope, Hype And Pressure

India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams have qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but they will need to do more for the country to have a realistic chance of winning a medal.

- Uthra Ganesan

Sjoerd Marijne and Graham Reid are as similar as chalk and cheese but the recent Olympic Qualifiers found them on the same side in terms of the result, way ahead for the next 10 months and what they seek at the end of that period. But there is so much that is different between the Dutchman and the Australian that it could well be a study in contrast — as much in where they have come from as in where they would go from here.

Handling the Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams respectively, they know, is one of the toughest jobs in world sports. The challenges, though, are completely different. And, in the next 10 months, they would know how far they have been able to live up to the hope, hype and pressures of the same.

In and out of the spotlight

Being always in the spotlight can be a double-edged weapon. Some thrive in the attention, others wither away. But that would be a simplistic breakdown, specially in team sports where the team dynamics make it — like in the Indian hockey teams — far more complex.

In a country that never tires of ‘eight Olympic golds’ in the sport, the men have always had a disproportionate share of the limelight. The players are stars, both on and off the field. Most of them love a good life, which is not a crime, but a lot of young talents have also been lost to the fame. Harjeet Singh, the captain of the Junior World Cup winning side who also had a movie made on his life, is nowhere now, as are several of his teammates. There is a history that they are constantly compared to, even though the last flare of that history was in 1980.