New Delhi, October 23
The Indian junior hockey team returned with the World Cup from Hobart to a rousing welcome here today. Hundreds of hockey fans, sports officials and media persons thronged the Palam Airport in New Delhi as 12 members of the Indian squad arrived from Mumbai by an Indian Airlines flight. The team members were mobbed and feted, and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), in association with the Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association, arranged a luncheon reception to the team at short notice.
The function was attended by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharti, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and IHF president KPS Gill.
Ms Bharti, deviating from her brief, announced that each of the team members would be given Rs 1 lakh, though there is no budgetary provision for such a monetary largesse with the Sports Ministry. In normal circumstances, the team would have been awarded Rs 5 lakh as prize money by the Central Government for their triumph. But had it been the senior team, each player would have got Rs 5 lakh.
The players were also promised Rs 1 lakh each for each player by the Punjab Chief Minister and Mr Gill. Mr Badal came unannounced and caught everyone by a pleasant surprise. He also announced that the Punjab Government would provide jobs to the players belonging to the state, and one player from outside the state who was a member of the team. He said the Punjab Government would reserve five posts of DSPs and 12 of Inspectors to be filled only by sportspersons.
Mr Parkash Singh Badal offered plots to the members of the Indian squad. A private company, Zuari-Chambal, of the K.K. Birla Group, also announced a cash award of Rs 4 lakh to the squad.
Coach Rajinder Singh and
captain Gagan Ajit Singh, who were the cynosure of all eyes, echoed the view, almost in unison, that team work and Indian style of hockey did the trick in their cup triumph. The junior World Cup triumph was India’s first major title after they won the gold in Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980, in a championship approved by the FIH (International Hockey Federation). In 1975, the Indian senior team, led by Ajit Pal Singh, had lifted the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. India also won the Asian Games gold in 1998.
Chief coach Rajinder Singh said the 5-3-2-1 attacking formation adopted by the Indian team was by far the best, and the rival teams simply failed to cope up with the attacking tempo generated by them. The victory was also a vindication of Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Centre of Excellence scheme as eight of the boys in the squad are the products of the SAI scheme.
The warm reception accorded to the junior team was reminiscent of the tumultuous welcome given to Ajit Pal Singh and his boys by the then IHF president MAM Ramaswamy when they returned to Chennai from Kuala Lumpur.
“The coach and the players did an admirable job. Grit, determination and skill enabled India to conquer adverse conditions to come on top”, Mr Gill said. The IHF President disclosed that captain Gagan Ajit Singh had injured his knee early in the championship, but kept the fact a secret, and played as usual to guide the team to the pinnacle of glory.
Mr Gill singled out top-scorers Deepak Thakur (10 goals) and penalty corner specialist Jugraj Singh (seven goals) for putting up an excellent performance. He said the German team, after losing to India in the semifinal, had observed that it was one of the best matches they had ever played, and India were the best team in the fray.
Fourteen players in the squad had played for the senior team at various times, and coach Rajinder Singh hinted that at least eight players from the present squad would figure in the senior team for the World Cup, scheduled to be held early next year in Kuala Lumpur.
Rajinder Singh, who had played in the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, said traditional, attacking style of Indian hockey fetched rich dividends in Hobart. “We believed that attack was the best form of defence”, explained Rajinder. He said the foreign exposures provided to the team in the last two years also helped the players settled down as a cohesive, compact team with a lot of understanding among themselves.
Captain Gagan Ajit Singh, son of former Olympian Ajit Singh and nephew of Harmik Singh, both of whom had played in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, said “team spirit and an excellent communication between the players and coaches played a vital role.”
