India see off Pakistan in Asian Games hockey gold match, book ticket to Rio

India beat Pakistan 4-2 in the shoot-off — scores were 1-1 at the end of full time — at the Asian Games final.

Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh celebrates after India beat Pakistan in the shoot-off (4-2). Sreejesh made two crucial saves in the tie-breaker. (Source: PTI)

For nearly 45 minutes after the medal ceremony, goalkeeper P R Sreejesh stood at the centre of the pitch, swarmed by hundreds of Indian expats from Incheon and nearby Seoul. Everyone wanted a piece of him. And Sreejesh obliged, signing autographs, posing for pictures and allowing them to touch his medal — a gold, India’s first since 1998. Occasionally, he broke into a jig, doing the “Gangnam style”.

Then, just before the lights went off, he walked up to the goal post with the Tricolour draped around himself and clicked a selfie. “For my baby girl,” he said, before joining the party that had begun a few yards away in the changing room.

A little more than an hour ago, the 26-year-old had orchestrated one of the most famous wins in Indian hockey. Sreejesh made two crucial saves in the tie-breaker against Pakistan, and a few more during the match, to help his team end its 16-year jinx in marquee tournaments.

Indian Hockey team captain Sardar Singh (L) at the medal ceremony after India won the gold medal in Men’s Hockey at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon Thursday. (Source: PTI)

India beat Pakistan 4-2 in the shoot-off — scores were 1-1 at the end of full time — at the Asian Games final here to win their first major hockey gold since 1998 in Bangkok — also the Asiad. The significance of this win cannot be undermined as it assures India of a berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics, saving them from the arduous process of going through the qualifiers.

Unlike most Indian teams in the recent past, the players showed plenty of courage and mental strength to overcome a stubborn opponent in a match that could have easily gone the other way. Sreejesh epitomised the attitude during the tie-breaker, when he was fearless as he anticipated the moves of the Pakistan players who were given the responsibility to deliver in the shoot-off.

“When the shoot-offs began, the only thought in my head was to win the gold. There was no pressure. I had prepared myself for this scenario,” said Sreejesh.

For long, he has been criticised for his temperament and inability to perform in critical situations. With no proper training partners, as the bench strength is almost non-existent when it comes to goalkeepers, Sreejesh developed his own ways of preparing for a match. He would swat flies to improve concentration and agility, indulge in a lot of self-talking and read self-help books.

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Currently, he carries a copy of Rudi Webster’s Thinking Like a Champion wherever he travels. He likes to call himself a philosopher and entertainer, but he has long desired to be a showstopper. In a distant Incheon, on a chilly and overcast evening, his wish finally came true.
“This win is for my daughter who is just three months old. She has brought me a lot of luck,” he said.

Although India came to Incheon as the favourites, beating Pakistan — a team that had beaten them in six of the last seven finals — was special.

As the Indian team stepped on the podium to collect their gold medals, chief coach Terry Walsh stood on the sidelines, beaming with pride, while his assistant M K Kaushik had tears in his eyes.

Kaushik, who was the coach of the victorious team of 1998 as well, said this was just a step towards the Olympics, and a lot still needs to be done. “This is still the beginning. A small step towards our bigger goal. But this is an ideal beginning,” he said.

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Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who was watching from the stands, too got teary-eyed. “Yeh mere gold se bhi acha hai. Hockey ki baat hi kuch aur hai (This is even better than my gold. Hockey is something else),” he said.