The recent show of the Indians in the men’s FIH Junior world hockey world cup with a bronze medal to show after a gap of nine years, is enough reason to be heartened about the health of the sport in the country. The colts did not win the prized gold medal all right but their effort of pulling back from a deficit to a winning post in the end is inspiring enough to say, not everything is lost in a sport where India had a special place in history. There was a time until the turn of 1980 when each Olympics raised visions of a gold in hockey for India. Talk of finesse in stick work, the magical dribbles and astute short passes, well Indians seemed adept at everything. As long as the sport was played on natural grass, India’s supremacy was well established on the Olympic canvas.

Artificial turf then started the changes. From the subtle movements on the grass to the meaty hitting and swift running, the image of hockey changed and it seemed India had fallen back in capturing the nuances of the new version. It is never easy. From the soft grassy surfaces to the hard and often knee straining astro turf the requirements were different. Stamina and fitness were the key in addition of course to the skills. The European players got off to a fast start and the results were there to see. The European nations in particular forged ahead and Asia as such lagged behind.

It took four decades of persistence perhaps that helped India to rework its plans to winning ways and a big credit for this has to go to the kind of structural reforms, launch of professional league like the HIL and more importantly government support not to forget a focus on youth development. Two successive bronze medals efforts by the seniors in the previous two Olympics have been inspiring to dream of better times. To that extent Indian hockey has been so different from football which is refusing to rise in the country as of now after all the highs of the past. That is a different story. Indian hockey seems to be finding ways to go up and one of the key areas is the youth and hence the significance of the bronze medal winning effort by the junior team in the just concluded junior World cup event that India had hosted. Eight years back India had actually won the event for the second time.

If anything, the latest edition of the junior event gave a clear picture of the gulf in standards of the European teams and India in particular. The semi final that India played against Germany put the matter in proper perspective. The way the eight times champion Germany outplayed the host physically and mentally clearly showed how much India had to catch up to be among the best. Not that the Indians were not good on the ball but their rivals displayed how quick thinking and perfect positioning can make the difference. India had faced the same situation against Belgium too earlier. Surely the event has been a lesson, a learning curve for the young colts and under the Coaching guidance of former India goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh will gain a lot on how to toughen themselves mentally. The Kerala man, Sreejesh the two-time Olympic medallist is not new to pressure situations. He has shown the hockey world his capability in dealing with the last line of defence with a touch of assurance.

Performances at the junior stage form the key to the future or the level of transition to the future. We have seen the seniors working hard to keep the Indian flag flying high under the immaculate supervision of the South African coach Craig Fulton and surely the keen look out would always be on how much quality that the juniors would add in the days and seasons ahead. True the junior world cup that way may have been a touch disappointing but Sreejesh’s boys can take some pat on the back for showing the grit and never-say-die attitude they ultimately showed in the crucial match against Argentina for the bronze medal. A match is never won or lost until the final whistle is a saying in sports and how true that adage can be was proved by Indian colts when they pulled back from a 0-2 deficit to not just draw level but script a sensational 4-2 win. All four goals had come in the final quarter in the space of ten or so minutes. That must have made Sreejesh proud.

That match against Argentina proved one thing that this bunch of players have the capacity to wriggle out of tight situations and not allow their innate strength to turn a casualty. Players like Arshdeep Singh, penalty corner specialist Anmol Ekka, Ankit Pal and Manmeet Singh, among others are the names that shot up at the end of it all. Surely there is reason to believe that the supply line to the senior level is not going to be short of class talent.