The New Zealanders sent India out of the World Cup.It was not even the quarterfinal. Dream dusted in the crossovers, a desperate D-top flick by Harmanpreet during one-on-one shootout against the Kiwi custodian defined the tournament for India and its skipper.Head hung in disappointment, Harmanpreet dragged himself to the mandatory press conference along with Graham Reid, who almost knew it was his last meeting with the media as the India coach.
It was about a year and half to go for the Paris Olympics then. Hockey India brought in a new coach in Craig Fulton, and his partnership with Harmanpreet as the team’s think-tank has not just won India titles, including the Asian Games gold, but also saw Harmanpreet returning with his lethal short-corner skills that have taken India to the quarterfinals of the Paris Games.
With six goals in five matches, Harmanpreet is playing like Rocky Balboa returning to the ring.
India’s two slightly nervous opening matches were salvaged by Harmanpreet’s last-minute goals, resulting in a 3-2 win over New Zealand and a 1-1 draw against the 2016 Olympic champions Argentina. The clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Ireland, courtesy Harmanpreet’s brace, was comforting. But the real test at the pool stage was always going to be defending Olympic champions Belgium and nemesis Australia.
With a place in the quarterfinals sealed before the two big games, India gave the Belgians a run for their money before losing 1-2. But the story of the men’s hockey competition so far was written in the match against Australia.
After 52 years, India finally managed to bell the cat and beat the Aussies in an Olympic match — the last instance being a 3-1 win at the Munich Games in 1972.
Harmanpreet’s stick continued to fire, scoring two goals in India’s 3-2 win, taking the tally of his international goals to 190 in 224 matches.
Opposite to the trend against the Aussies over the years, it was India who led 2-0 at half-time, showing the promise that the team wants to deliver on in Paris.
“That’s what we are looking for — to give India its ninth (hockey) gold. We are giving (it our) everything to win that gold medal,” Harmanpreet told FIH (International Hockey Federation) after the win over Australia.
“But the main tournament is starting now. So the quarterfinals, the semifinals, those matches are very crucial. So we’re just looking to give our best,” said the two-time FIH Men’s Player of the Year.
Having finished second in Pool B with 10 points, India will take on Pool A’s third-placed team, Great Britain. The match is scheduled for 1:30 pm IST on August 4.
Decoding the historic win over Australia, Harmanpreet said: “We started (the Paris Olympics by) winning, and we decided we were going to finish with a winning match. We put them under pressure and the pressure was so good from the frontline. And our motto was to score the first goal. So we did it and I think after that we managed very well. Because everybody knows that the Australians come full press, so the positioning and scanning was good today, the way we managed the ball.”
The real tournament, though, begins with the knockouts, where the losing team packs its bags to go home. And Harmanpreet summed it up in few and precise words.
“There’s no room to make mistakes.”