2006 - a black year for Indian hockey

Undated (UNI) Indian hockey lies buried under the burning sands of Doha's Al-Rayyan Stadium -- it finally died on December 10 succumbing to malignant autocracy of the country's sports mandarins.

The death of one that once dominated the world came unwept and unsung after deliberate neglect of talent, ineptness of the powers-that-be and public apathy to the gradual downslide of the ''once national game''.

After all these, no wonder Indian hockey was begging for euthanasia and the mercy killer was China which delivered the lethal blow on December 5. The 2-3 loss to China in the Asian Games league proved the last nail in the coffin.

And the final rites were performed on December 10 when the team failed to qualify for the medal rounds of the Asiad for the first time in the history of the competition at this quadrennial event.

This failure was due to a 1-1 draw with Korea in a must-win last league match.

The victories against lower-rated teams, including Malaysia in the classification match were no solace to India who thus authored their worst-ever Asian Games performance that followed the 11th place finish at the World Cup in September.

India will now have to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The year started on a disastrous note with India losing the six-test series against Pakistan. It was followed by another debacle in March at Melbourne with India finishing sixth.

Just before start of the Games, the Indian team suffered a set back when defender Harpal Singh had to opt out due to sudden illness.

As usual, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) scurried around for a scapegoat and found one in coach Rajinder Singh (jr) who was sacked and V Baskaran was recalled from wilderness to take care of the team.

But then the country finished third in four-nation tourney held at Monchengladbagh, Germany and Baskaran had a ready excuse -- ''I had a little time with the team.'' India managed a bronze in Azlan Shah tournament at Kuala Lumpur and there was lot of big talk about hockey's revival.

Tragedy hit India just before the World Cup when drag flicker Sandeep Singh was injured in a fluke incident and had to be left out of the team.

India put up a miserable show in the World Cup finishing 11th in the 12-nation tournament. Prior to it India also lost to Pakistan in the SAF Games final.

The IHF axed six players but India's Asian Games campaign was marred by the controversial omission of midfielder Viren Rasquinha at the very last moment.

His absence considerably weakened the half-line while also upsetting the balance of the team.

And the Al-Rayyan stadium proved to be the last resting place for Indian hockey.

Coach Vasudevan Baskaran was at a loss of words to explain the debacle in Doha.

''It was just one bad game against China that did us in. The boys had an off-day. The Chinese made just three moves against us and scored off them,'' he said.

The coach stood by his team and said the results did not reflect the quality of the players.

''I think, we had as many as a dozen scoring chances against China. We dominated the game but just could not score as many times as we should have,'' he said.

In between in the domestic circuit, Bangalore Lions won the second Premier Hockey League at Chandigarh, while Punjab and Sind Bank emerged winners in the Nationals defeating Delhi 3-1 at Jalandhar.

The women did slightly better as they managed a bronze in Doha, beating formidable Korea 1-0 but their showing at the World Cup was also dismal. They will also have to struggle to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Though some hockey olympians and fans took out a procession demanding dissolution of the IHF, there has been general public apathy towards the game. Unlike cricket, where a defeat is termed as a ''national shame'', hockey sadly evokes no such reaction.

The IHF officials, aware that public is just not bothered about the game, feel secure and are least bothered.

In such a bleak scenario, 2006 will go down as the black year for Indian hockey.

UNI HSB AY HS1252