Even before there was the drag-flick in modern hockey there was an exponent who had mastered it. Floris Jan Bovelander terrorised opposition goalkeepers with his lethal hits and flicks that almost always entered the goal. His mastery saw the Netherlands win the World Cup (Lahore 1990) as well as the Olympic gold (Atlanta 1996).


Floris Jan Bovelander during a training session with young hockey players at the MHA-Mahindra stadium, Churchgate earlier this year. Pic/Atul Kamble 

Bovelander, now 49, grew up in North Holland's city of Haarlem in an era when India dominated word hockey. And by the time he had finished playing – he retired in 1996 after scoring a brace in the Netherlands' Olympic gold-winning finale at Atlanta – Indian hockey had spiralled downward.