Opinion The Third Edit: India’s hockey decade

Around this time 10 years ago, when India’s hockey team reclaimed the Asian Games crown — the country’s first since 1998 — it felt like a seminal moment. The medal came on the back of twin Olympics setbacks — failure to qualify in 2008 followed by a last-place finish in 2012. However, few back then would have predicted the title would mark the beginning of Indian hockey’s decade of dominance in Asia and a resurgence on the Olympics stage. In the last 12 months alone, India have added another Asian Games gold to their kitty, gone on to win an Olympics bronze for the second time in a row and, on Tuesday, defended the Asian Champions Trophy title by beating China.

It must be tough for an Indian hockey fan not to feel giddy. The national team has gone from strength to strength, improving in nearly all aspects of the game. In Asia, India’s staggering rise has coincided with a collective fall in standards elsewhere, most noticeably in South Korea, Malaysia and Pakistan, where the sport has become a victim of the financial crunch. In this context, for a nation with bigger global goals, India’s rise will be judged not by how easily they beat Asian teams but by how consistently they win against Australia and the European heavyweights.

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There is vast room for improvement, however, for a team in transition after the Paris Olympics. This presents an opportunity as well as a challenge. If they step up, India can become a world force; if they slip up, all the gains could lead to nothing. The next target for Craig Fulton’s men should at least be to reach the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup, a feat they haven’t achieved since winning the trophy in 1975. How well they do there could also be an ideal marker to gauge whether India can upgrade their Olympics form in 2028. After a decade of rise begins a period of consolidation.