evisiting the golden age of Indian hockey at the Olympics

Having put up sterling performances at the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament and Champions Trophy, the Indian men's team is embarking on another Olympic voyage at Rio. India has a painfully glorious past in Olympic hockey. India has won eight gold medals at the Olympics, between 1928 and 1980. After that it has been a dry spell.

Rio is also an opportunity to prove themselves for the Indian women’s team as well. The have qualified for Olympics after a gap of 36 years, after finishing a creditable fourth in Moscow in 1980.

The Hindu has covered every moment of Indian hockey at the Olympics. Here we give you our coverage, right from 1928, of the golden moments as well as the let downs in Olympics.
1928: This is the first time India won the gold at the Olympics, after which we went on to win the next six consecutive Olympic golds. Here is The Hindu’s editorial on that historic moment:

The Indian team won the gold by defeating Holland. The Indians took some time to settle down in the first half, owing to the reconstruction of thier forward line...

1932: India defended their gold medal, this time against USA:

The felicitations poured in from various quarters for the victorious team on their mammoth victory.

1936: India completed its hat-trick at Berlin. There was tense excitement when the curtain was lifted for the final....

1940: The Olympic Games that were to be held in Tokyo that year, and later moved to Helsinki, were suspended indefinitely following the outbreak of World War II.

1948: India beat Great Britain 4-0 in the final of the London Olympics. From the opening whistle, India gave the spectators in the stadium an exhibition of intelligent and fast play...

The Hindu in its editorial paid glowing tributes to the Indian men's hockey team.

1952: India men's hockey team once again showed the world why they are supreme by outclassing Holland in the finals. Out of six goals in the finals, Balbir Singh scored 5.

Glowing tributes from various quarters poured in for the Indian team's classy performance. The Hindu Editorial

1956: India defeated Pakistan 1-0 in the finals of the Melbourne Olympics and secured their sixth consecutive title.

In its editorial The Hindu appreciated the Indian hockey team.

1960: Only men competed in field hockey at the Rome Olympic Games. Pakistan won the gold medal, defeating India in the final and ending India's run of six successive gold medals. Spain won the bronze medal.

1964: India wrested back the Hockey crown from Pakistan in a thrilling game. This was the seventh gold for the Indian men's hockey team at the Olympics.

President Dr. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri congratulated the win and conveyed their wishes...

The Hindu editorial said, "The hockey of today however — and alas, too — is far cry from the hockey of the Dhyan Chand era.

At the concluding ceremony of the 18th Olympiad at Tokyo, only the Indian hockey team participated.

1980: After three more Olympics, India won their eighth hockey gold at Moscow.

The Bhaskaran-led Indian hockey team was given a warm welcome at New Delhi.
After the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Indian hockey team witnessed a downward trend and has not won a single medal till 2012. India finished 12th in the 2012 London Olympics.

This time around, Indian men's hockey team led by Sardar Singh has displayed some scintillating performances and has won matches against stronger sides.

India finished second, below Australia, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Champions Trophy. According to Indian coach Roelant Oltmans, the Indian team has a very good chance of finishing at the podium at the Rio Olympics.

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Usain Bolt’s torn hamstring raises Rio doubt

Usain Bolt confirmed suffering a grade one hamstring tear at Jamaica’s Olympic trials on Friday but the star sprinter expects to secure his place at the Rio Games by proving his fitness at the London Anniversary Games later this month.

Bolt withdrew from the final of the men’s 100 metres after Friday night’s semifinals as Yohan Blake went on to win the trial in 9.95 seconds. Bolt had clocked 10.04 seconds to win his semifinal after a poor start.

“After feeling discomfort in my hamstring after the first round last night (Thursday) and then again in the semifinal tonight (Friday) I was examined by the chief doctor of the National Championships and diagnosed with a Grade 1 tear,” Bolt said on his official Facebook account.

“I have submitted a medical exemption to be excused from the 100m final and the remainder of the National Championships.

“I will seek treatment immediately and hope to show fitness at the London Anniversary Games on July 22 to earn selection for the Olympic Games in Rio,” the two-time Olympic 100m and 200m gold medallist said.

His withdrawal does not mean he will miss the Rio Olympics, where Bolt is expected to defend his 100 and 200m titles.

Unlike the United States, where the first three finishers in the trials win Olympic berths, Jamaica’s selection policy allows medical exemptions.

His coach Glen Mills told Reuters that efforts were made since Thursday night to get Bolt ready for Friday’s semifinal and final.

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Brazil minister says no plans to cancel Rio Games

Brazilian organisers have reiterated they have no intention of cancelling the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the outbreak of the Zika virus, with Sports Minister George Hilton saying the topic “is not in discussion.”

“The Brazilian government is fully committed to ensure that the 2016 Rio games take place in an atmosphere of security and tranquility,” Mr. Hilton wrote.

Brazil is the epicentre of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which the World Health Organisation has called “an extraordinary event and public health threat.”

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach earlier this week said he was “very confident” the games would take place. And Rio organisers have repeatedly said there is no talk of calling off the games.

The Zika virus adds to other problems with South America’s first Olympics, including severe water pollution in Rio’s sailing and rowing venues, and deep cuts of almost 30 percent to keep a $2 billion operating budget in balance.

Only about half of the domestic tickets for the game have been sold, and organisers fear the Zika outbreak could scare off foreign tourists.

“The 2016 Rio games will take place with full attention to the health of the participants,” Mr. Hilton said.

Away from the games, Brazil is experiencing its deepest recession since the 1930s. Inflation is just over 10 percent, the Brazilian currency has lost 30 percent of its value in the last year against the dollar, and President Dilma Rousseff is fighting impeachment charges.

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Saina focused on regaining fitness

World No. 2 woman shuttler Saina Nehwal is so preoccupied with the strengthening and recovery of a foot injury that at present she does not wish to think about the Rio Olympics.

Considering her wealth of experience and array of achievements in 2015 — during which she won the India Open Super Series title to become World No. 1 and bagged the prestigious All England and World championships silver medals — Saina, a London Olympics bronze medallist, stands a good chance to better the colour of her Olympic medal in Rio.

However, the 25-year-old Hyderabad-based player, who won two home matches for Awadhe Warriors in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here, did not want to commit anything about her full-fledged comeback to competitive badminton.

“Right now I cannot say anything. It will not be right to say anything about any tournament. First of all, I have to make myself strong and fit and then I can think of what I can do in tournaments. I am happy that I am able to play in the PBL even without training. I am in bad shape, but I am happy to pull off some matches,” said Saina during an interaction following Warriors’ victory over Bengaluru Topguns here.

Delighted

Saina, who skipped Warriors’ first match against Mumbai Rockets, was delighted to come back after a three-week break and beat Delhi Acers’ P.C. Thulasi comfortably. Saina, however, had a tough time against Topguns’ Suo Di before she could win the three-game affair.

“Even though I was out of touch, because of my strengthening and gym workout, my body was in some condition to play,” said Saina.

She said she would have a look at her fitness before deciding whether to play in the remaining PBL matches and the upcoming Syed Modi Grand Prix later this month. “The injury gets affected when you play tough matches... Still, it is more stable now. Let’s see how it develops in the next few days.”

Saina said since the Olympics is scheduled to be held in August there was a lot of time left to prepare for the mega event.

Nevertheless, she was hopeful of a good show from Indian shuttlers’ in Rio.

“It depends on many things — fitness and form and the draw. The way all the players are playing I am sure we will perform well,” she said.

Wednesday’s results: Awadhe Warriors bt Bengaluru Topguns [Bodin Issara and K. Maneesha lost to Khim Wah Lim and Ashwini Ponappa 13-15, 15-11, 13-15 (0/1); Sai Praneeth lost to Sameer Verma 13-15, 14-15 (0/2); Bengaluru Topguns’s trump match: Saensomboonsuk Tanongsak bt K. Srikanth 15-11, 15-10 (1/1); Awadhe Warriors’ trump match: Saina Nehwal bt Suo Di 15-10, 13-15, 15-8 (3/1); Bodin Issara and Cai Yun bt Hoon Thien How and Khim Wah Lim 15-12, 15-6 (4/1)].

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