1984 Los Angeles Olympics - no podium finish(top 6 ranking) 1988 Seoul Olympics - (not in top 6) 1992 Barcelona Olympics(not in top 6) 1996 Atlanta(not in top 6) 2000 Sydney(not in top 6) 2004 Athens(not in top 6)
1982 WC Mumbai - (Top 6 but no podium finish) 1986 WC London - Last among 12 nations(absolute disgrace) 1990 Lahore WC( Not in top 6) 1994 Sydney WC(Top 6 but no podium finish) 1998 Utrecht WC(Not in top 6) 2002 Kuala Lumpur WC(Not in top 6) 2006 Monchengladbach WC(11th out of 12 nations)
Which means that we have not had a single podium finish in either the WC or the Olympics after 1980, a full 26 years!!
Add to the above facts, our poor record in champions trophy tournaments!! In 29 editions of the Champions trophy, we have qualified only a handful of times and have had only one podium finish, a bronze medal in the 1994 edition!! This is a record that we have to face and confront!! Not indulge in some misplaced chauvinism like some ignorants in this blog!!
After all, we must compete well with the big boys, not take consolation by beating some small fry!! That is being able to compete on level terms with Holland, Germany, Australia, Spain and Pakistan!!
RE:RE:Post Moscow gold in 1980(some bitter hard facts)
by India on Sep 04, 2007 02:57 AM
OK, India is not good in hockey anymore. It is because other nations have learnt a lot about this game and their players are physically stronger than the Indian players. They have all overtaken India. India is not going to figure in amy more top 10 positions anymore. So what about it? Why sit and whine over something which you can't change? What is so shameful about it? India beat Sri Lanka 20-0. There are countries worse than India in hockey. Sri Lanka need not feel shameful about their loss.
The downfall of Indian hockey began more than 30 years ago at the Montreal Olympics in 1976!! There, a much unheralded team like Australia beat us 6-1 and for the first time, the former world champions had ever been humiliated thus!!
As if this was not enough, a couple of years later vat the Buenos Aires WC in 1978, a Heiner Dopp led West Germany beat us 7-0!! We were pulverized and decimated!! This was the nadir of Indian hockey!! If the myopic Hockey federation had woken up to this reality and set corrective measures, the resurgence of Indian hockey could have begun and we would have been a potent team a decade later!! But they chose to ignore these warning signs and put blinkers on their eyes!! A state of classic inaction!! This myopic officialdom got a much needed shot in the arm when we won the Moscow Gold in 1980!! These IHF officials went over the moon in celebrating this victory and declared a resurgence of hockey!! All along conveniently ignoring the fact that the Moscow Gold was won cos of the fact that all the major hockey powers had boycotted the olympics!! No Germany, no Holland, no Australia, no Pakistan and no NZ!! We won it cos of default by the hockey powers; not cos of some great performances!!
This myopic lackadaisical attitude was the beginning of the end of Indian hockey!! An inability to face the truth and a tendency to clam up when confronted with facts and put on a facade of success and well being!! The bane of Indian hockey!!
RE:Indian hockey in the last 30 years(A shameful legacy)
by swaroop tagore on Sep 04, 2007 05:51 AM
we did win the asia cup,the sultan azlan shah tournament,the asian games inspite of the odds we faced and total lethargy from the officialdom we did produce a mohammed shahid and dhanraj and a pargat singh at the time of sinking.our hockey performances may be dead but we still have some of the most skillful players of contemporary hockey in this nation we do face the truth we are no more a super power your contention that korea are a team to win is unacceptable cos they have invariably drawn ,won against holland, pakistan, germany, spain while india has not been able to achieve results aginst these teams. To me we are still a force to recon with and any team in the world do not consider us as a pushover inspite of our miserable performances.We will emerge as a superpower in hockey again by 2012.MARK MY WORDS.
it will be dream coem true if our hockey and football teams are considered among worls best teams. i know its like dreaming now... but if many asian teams can leave their footprints in last WC then why not India yhis time??
This is a great victory,but still team should do much better.We r too behind in Hockey/Football in world ranking. If Players want glamour/money like Cricket they should win consistently.We've to do too much to promote Hockey/Football.These two games need much higher fitness,stamina,practice and skill,compared to Cricket so for strong indian youth we all should motivate Hockey,Football,Badminton,TT,Lawn Tennis than useless,hopeless and unreliable cricket.Hope Hockey/Football teams will continue their winning spirit and good performance in future. All The Best.
You have asked me whether i can tell you names of atleast 2/3 hockey players from India! Yes i can but that is not important!! Dilip Tirkey, Prabodh, Ignace, Arjun Halappa, Jagbir ..... so what??
I saw our shameful performance at Monchengladbach WC in Germany in 2006 and i hate the hockey players!!
In the 2006 WC we came 11th out of 12 nations!! Isn't this a disgrace?? They disgraced our nation, so i call them losers, am i wrong?/
Simple stick work like stopping the ball, conversion of peanlty corners, forcing a penalty by hitting on the opponenst boot, such simple things we are not able to do!! Why did we remove Gerhard Rach?? He was really good and he could have steered us in the right direction!! What can i say except to say that i'am so disappointed with Indian hockey?/
We want WC and Olympics medals, not Asia cup win!!
RE:Message for Sandipan Suklabaidya!!
by ankur biswas on Sep 04, 2007 02:09 AM
u really seem to know a lot more 'bout Indian hockey than most of us here dude. U got full freedom 2 hav u'r opinions. But i personally feel no sportsman can be as negligent towards their sport as u have said..u've got a li'l too emotional on that. Then again, maybe u REALLY love hockey!
Indian hockey players are more interested in glamourous life and money! They don't have any pride of the nation and hence they lose badly! Also they need to work on their ftiness and strength! They are very weak and lack in stamina! That is cos they don't consume beef and eat mainly a veggie diet! They should consume more read meat and maybe two to three times a day! That way they will be able to compete against the Aussies and the dutch! Then they will start winning even on astroturf! But it seems the Indian hockey players are only interested in drinks, parties and money! KPS Gill organizes these parties in which there is a lot of money that is spent!
Hockey should be banned in India! And all hockey players should be banned for playing for any club too! useless losers!
Congratulations to Indian Hockey teams in both mens and womens Asia Cup, Hey Rediff where is women's coverage? Any way I do not understand some people grudging the money made by cricketers, even though I am not a grat fan of cricket as I am physiaclly, mentally involved with hockey but as sports man I regret treatment given to hockey by media and sposors but that does not mean I want for hockey at criket's expense. They (cricket players) are doing they are job and if they are getting paid it is good and its not their fault that hockey players don't get paid. Please be sports person and sport all athletes whether Footbal, Hockey, Cricket or so many other sports like Kabbadi, Tennis, Volleyball, Basket ball. Player in any sport is doing his or her bit to get personal and national prestige. American are ahead because resources and enterprenuers who support scientists and sports equally. A corrupt american poltician or civil servant will be still do better for his community then his Indian counterpart as they want every thing for themselves. In America every body is for their own intrest but as Adam Smith father of modern Economics said in their selfish intrest their is common benefit the Invisible Hand of welth is missing in India.
RE:India's hockey players are more interested in wine and women
by sandipan suklabaidya on Sep 04, 2007 01:25 AM
Dear Stephen... I hope u r not confusing hockey with cricket. How could u say that Indian hockey players are more interested in glamourous life and money! How much money do they earn? Does hockey really pay well? Blame it our system that has made cricket more glamourous and a money making machine totally ignoring our national game... at lest I thank our Hockey players that despite being at a demotivating situtation, they strive hard to perform... tell me honestly, cam u name at least 2 - 3 players who are playing for India???
