By Anand Philar, IANS,
Tenth World Cup – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Feb 24-March 4, 2002)
The run-up to the 10th World Cup witnessed some unprecedented hype in India considering that the venue, Kuala Lumpur, was the scene of their 1975 triumph. Of course, the Malaysian capital city in 2002 had little resemblance to the “small town” of three decades earlier. But it did not matter as “experts” declared that India were set for a repeat. As it transpired, the prediction was way off the mark.
Ultimately, it was a World Cup of shame and disgrace for Indian hockey that became a laughing stock. As if by tradition, the team’s preparations fell victim to politics. The selection trials were conducted in Ipoh, Malaysia, and were marred by intense lobbying and groupism.
“I was not given players that I wanted,” thundered Cedric D’Souza on his return home in an obvious reference to the shock omission of centre-forward Gagan Ajit Singh, captain of the victorious junior World Cup side. Thus, the fuse was lit in Ipoh and the spectacular explosion occurred in Kuala Lumpur.
The happenings in Ipoh told on India’s performance in the league as they suffered three consecutive defeats (1-2 vs South Korea, 2-3 vs Malaysia, 2-3 vs England) leading to ejection of coach Cedric.
The Indian Hockey Federation officials, notably secretary-general K. Jothikumaran, constantly interfered with team tactics and as the performance declined, summarily replaced Cedric with his assistant C.R. Kumar, a relatively inexperienced coach for the remainder of the competition.
Charges and counter-charges flew thick and fast at the Concorde Hotel where the team was residing. The IHF said it had only “rested” Cedric, but the coach retorted: “Either I am the coach or I am not. Period.” The disgraced Cedric left the team hotel at 4 in the morning and returned home in acrimonious circumstances.
When the dust settled and Cedric’s assistant Kumar took charge, the team fared only marginally better, defeating lowly Cuba 4-0, Poland 4-1, but narrowly losing to Australia 3-4 as India ended up playing for 9-12 positions.
A 3-0 win against Spain lifted India, but they went down 1-2 to New Zealand in the match for 9-10 positions.
Incidentally, in view of the oppressive weather conditions, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) permitted the teams to select 18 players with 16 to be nominated for the match.
Indian team:
Goalkeepers: Jude Menezes, Devesh Chauhan. Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Lazarus Barla, Jugraj Singh. Midfielders: Ignace Tirkey, Baljit Singh Saini, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Thirumalvalavan, Arjun Halappa. Forwards: Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon (captain), Daljit Singh Dhillon, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sabu Varkey, Bipin Fernandez. Coaches: Cedric D’Souza and C.R Kumar.
How they finished:
1. Germany; 2. Australia; 3. The Netherlands; 4. Korea; 5. Pakistan; 6. Argentina; 7. England; 8. Malaysia; 9. New Zealand; 10. India; 11. Spain; 12. Japan; 13. South Africa; 14. Belgium; 15. Poland; 16. Cuba