Tokyo 2020: ‘Indian men’s hockey bronze win made me think of the 1980 final’

Indian hockey team members after the medal ceremony at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: Hockey India

The Indian hockey teams have had a dream campaign in the 2020 Tokyo Games. While the men's team won their first medal in 41 years in the form of a bronze, the women's team reached the semifinals for the first time ever. While the latter lost out on a bronze to Great Britain on Friday, they have improved by leaps and bounds, according to ex-Olympians.

Mid-day.com spoke with Maneyapanda Muthanna Somaya, better known as MM Somaya, who played as right-half and was a part of the gold medal-winning Olympic hockey team in 1980. He went on to represent India for the next two Olympics at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the 1988 Seoul Games, where he was captain. Somaya reflects on the similarities between the recent men's bronze medal match and the triumphant 1980 final. He also dwells on the kind of technical challenges and mental pressures both the men's and women's teams likely overcame, which make their achievements especially significant.

Olympics veteran and former hockey captain M M Somaya. File pic

Here are edited excerpts from the interview:

What is your reaction to India men's hockey team's bronze medal win?
The performance has been exceptionally good. Prior to the tournament, the expectations were high because they are ranked number 4 (now at number 3) by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and they had the potential but to perform to that potential with some of the best teams in the world was a big ask. They lived up to their bidding. I was especially delighted in the last match against Germany when they were playing for bronze. The resilience which they showed when they looked to be down and out after being down 3-1. The way the team bounced back earlier in the tournament after their loss to Australia, who beat them with a wide margin. They had consecutive wins against Spain, Argentina, Japan and Great Britain. I was also slightly nostalgic because when they played Germany, they were also under the pump in the last few seconds and when we were playing Spain in the finals, we were in a similar situation, where we were a goal up but got many penalty corners. While I was delighted with the performance, it also made me think of my final 41 years ago.

India hockey players celebrate after scoring against Germany during the men's bronze medal match of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: AFP

What did you think about the Indian women's team performance throughout the campaign?
I was tremendously delighted with the women's performance and the biggest aspect about them is that they were punching above their weight in the tournament. They came in the top 4 and that too they ran them very close. In the semifinals, they lost quite narrowly to Argentina and then again today, they exceeded expectations because people were not even expecting them to reach the quarterfinals but they reached the semis and made a bid for the bronze medal. So, I think both the teams put up exceptionally good performances. They have the chance to inspire and be role models when they return to India, and help inspire the younger lot to take up the game. It is also a step up for the current national players as they participated and beat the best. Overall, a very inspiring performance by both the teams.

What are the mental barriers that players have to face and overcome when playing at the Olympic level?
Firstly, playing at the Olympics is different from playing other tournaments, especially if you are a debutante, and the Indian hockey team had many debutantes this time. Playing at that level for the first time would definitely make it difficult to get accustomed to the environment of the Olympics and the ceremony, and that sometimes can be a burden because they can get over-awed. Secondly, we had not won a medal in 41 years and have not been able to go beyond a certain point. So, that is another barrier that they may have had. Also, the fact that we were playing higher-ranked teams like Germany, Argentina and Spain and they needed to win such crunch matches to go forward. So, these are some of the key barriers and this is what the team did so well to overcome. So, a lot of credit must go to the Indian staff who helped the team overcome these barriers.

When we went to Moscow, it was my first time out of the country, as I had never played outside India or on AstroTurf before. I was lucky to have the support of my coach Balkishan Singh and captain Vasudevan Bhaskaran who guided me during that time, which helped me later on.

Also Read: Tokyo 2020 Women's Hockey: Veterans review Indian team's historic Olympics outing so far