Tokyo Olympic 2020 - Hockey

[PKBasu]

I expect that India will finish second in the pool, and so should play Netherlands in the QF (or possibly Germany). We have comprehensively thrashed Germany recently, so it may be better to face Germany in the QF.

[PKBasu]

My prediction remains an India-Australia final on 5th August. Sadly, Covid stands in the way of me travelling to Tokyo to watch.

[arjun2761]

Hopefully, in the streaming world, all the events will be available to stream through some source even if they aren't on the primary TV channels in the US.

[PKBasu]

The quest for Hockey gold begins tomorrow morning at 6:30am IST (10 am in Tokyo) against NZ. ChakDeIndia!

[PKBasu]

India have begun with a 3-2 victory over New Zealand. We used to regularly lose our first match in the Olympics, dooming hopes on the very first day itself. We did break the spell in Rio, but only with a win against low-ranked Ireland in the first match. Beating #8 (and long-time nemesis) New Zealand is a meaningful result, and a good start to our campaign. The big challenge is the next match, against #1 Australia at 3pm IST on Sunday.

[suresh]

My heart sunk a little when I saw that we were playing NZ in the hockey opener. What a relief to see that we won the match.

[kaustav]

Yes last 5 mins were very tensed... Thank god

[sameerph]

Our women team tied 1-1 at the end of Q1 against top ranked Netherland. Putting up a good fight so far.

[sameerph]

Still 1-1 at half time. Defending well and making counter attacks. Dutch still the dominant side but 4 penalty corners were saved by us.

[suresh]

Our women are fit! It is great to see them pin the Dutch women in their half of the field. The Dutch appear to be a lot more fluid once they get into the Indian half.

[sameerph]

But, Netharlands have come stroming in Q3 and scored 3 goals. They lead 4-1 after Q3.

[prasen9]

Hockey plays 2 games in 2 days?

[jaydeep]

Sreejesh was a difference between win and loss ... Really good win in opener against Black sticks.
Our women had a tough opener against WR #1 Dutch side.

[jayakris]

I found a lot to like in the brand of hockey we were playing. Graham Reid has made a difference. For the last decade or two, one of my constant complaints was off-the-ball movements. Problems in our passing game when our guys were in trouble in the past were often caused by not finding people to pass to, and not because the players wanted to beat the opponent one-on-one (which was a problem in our older style till around 15 years ago). Others without the ball, meaning everyone in the team from the front to the back, thinking of this constantly and moving (I mean RUNNING) to right places was what seemed missing. It didn't change under various foreign coaches, and it made me wonder why...

Finally, I saw many stretches in the NZL game yesterday when our off-the-ball movements looked terrific. Especially so in the mid-field and in the opponents half. The problems at the end were actually simple (silly) individual mistakes of holding the ball a tad bit too long, or losing focus, to give the ball away. The style of team-play that Graham Reid has instituted does look scientific and modern to me. Need to see more matches to be sure though.

I also saw more instances of front line guys running hard to get back on defense than I have seen in the past. It is like they have all been told to just move constantly and do whatever is needed. Am I seeing too much?

One other thing. Is this the least amount of controversy related to hockey that we have seen before an Olympics? That itself bodes well. Nobody taking potshots at the coach and all that. Right? (Or did I miss anything?)...

[jayakris]

One more question. Where is ssp? No comments on yesterday's match?