Patriotic songs blaring from audio system drilled on high of vans. Youngsters, youngsters, grown-ups dancing on the road holding hockey sticks. Chants of “India jeetega” ringing out in all places. The metal metropolis of Rourkela has welcomed the World Cup with open arms.
The vitality off the sphere might be felt as you stroll from any nook of the city to the newly constructed, 20,000-capacity jewel of Odisha – the Birsa Munda Worldwide Hockey Stadium. On the sphere, Harmanpreet Singh’s troopers might want to carry the identical vitality if they’re to excel on the quadrennial occasion, beginning with Spain within the opening sport on Friday.
The Indian hockey workforce has been offered with a singular alternative: to hold the momentum gained on an excellent August 2021 afternoon on the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, the place they clinched a historic medal after 41 years of ready. 13 gamers from that squad are in Odisha this week, chasing India’s first World Cup medal since Kuala Lumpur 1975, when India received the match for the primary and solely time.
Tokyo modified rather a lot for Indian hockey. As soon as the hunters, the workforce know they may now be hunted.
“Tokyo was an excellent chapter however it’s behind us now. We’re targeted on the current and future. Whereas we needed to beat Olympic medallists earlier, different groups may have that additional motivation to beat us now that we’re Olympic medallists,” says Manpreet Singh, who captained the workforce to the bronze medal.
That is the primary time since Mumbai 1982 that India will play at a World Cup as Olympic medallists (after the gold at Moscow 1980). And that is the primary time that one state, not to mention a rustic, is internet hosting successive World Cups.
“The World Cup occurs each 4 years. We don’t know once we will play a World Cup once more in India. We all know how necessary it’s. The house crowd is a bonus. So, you need to reap the benefits of this opportunity,” mentioned India captain Harmanpreet Singh.
Considerably, there isn’t any workforce on the World Cup that India has not crushed within the latest previous. Be it Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany or Argentina, the Graham Reid-coached facet have carried out properly towards the very best on the planet.
India even have a great document on the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar – from the bronze within the 2016-17 Hockey World League Remaining to ending third in 2021-22 Professional League. “Final yr’s performances have been good and the workforce has been doing properly. We have now the expertise and health. Proper now, our focus is on the primary match and to play accordingly. If we do this, then there’s a good alternative for us to win this World Cup,” mentioned Harmanpreet, India’s main drag-flicker.
The World Cup journey, nonetheless, won’t be simple. World No 6 India have been grouped with No 5 England, No 8 Spain, and No 15 Wales, making theirs the one group to have three groups from the top-8. India begin towards Spain on Friday, then play England on Sunday, and Wales on January 19.
The highest workforce from every group will head on to the quarter-finals, and people who end second and third will head to the crossovers video games towards middle-placed groups from different teams for the final 4 slots within the quarters.
Coming in as defending World Cup champions and Olympic gold medallists, Belgium are the favourites for the title, with world No 1 and three-time champions Australia the opposite large title contenders. And conventional powerhouse, Netherlands, can by no means be counted out, particularly after reaching the finals of the final two World Cups. Netherlands have been answerable for India’s exit from Bhubaneswar 2018 when the hosts misplaced a intently fought match 2-1.
However rather a lot has modified for Indian hockey within the final 4 years. The large query now could be: Can Staff India pull off a Tokyo encore, or even perhaps a Kuala Lumpur 1975 encore, in Odisha?