By Prabhjot Paul Singh
Strange are the ways the National Sports Federations (NSFs) in general and HockeyIndia in particular function. Even in the Olympic year, there have been no dearth of controversies in the NSFs. While the BJP government changed the union Sports minister a fortnight before the Olympic games, the IOA was still squabbling whether to include an official whose sport had no athlete representing the country at Tokyo. Covid 19 pandemic notwithstanding, Indian contingent will be 220-plus strong with 125-odd athletes in it.
In this one of biggest ever Olympic squad to leave the shores of the country, medal hopefuls are countable on fingertips. The replaced Sports minister, Kiran Rijeiju, was hopeful that India’s medal tally at Tokyo will be in double figures. Starting with hockey, many feel that there is a clear chance for a medal in men’s hockey. Going by India’s world ranking of four and its recent showings in the FIH Pro League, the team looks to be in good shape. Its only handicap has been that it did not get enough of international exposure. Most of its FIH Pro League matches were cancelled because of Covid 19 related travel restrictions.