SV Sunil: On 2008 shocker and importance of qualifying for Tokyo Olympics

In 2008, the India men’s hockey team had suffered one of their most shocking outcomes - after a 2-0 defeat to Great Britain in the final of the World Hockey qualifying tournament at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, India failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since their debut in 1928.

Striker SV Sunil was a part of the team, and remembers the horror quite well.

“I still remember the 2008 game. I did not play due to an injury but I was a part of the team. There was a rise in the popularity of hockey at that time, and we did not qualify. It all came down for us,” Sunil speaks to Hindustan Times after a 7-1 drubbing against Russia on Saturday. The result meant that India were through to the Olympics 2020, with an aggregate total score of 11-3 in the two Olympics qualifying matches.

While India, ranked 5th in the world, were expected to have an easy task of handling the challenge posed by the World No. 22 Russia, the first qualifier on Friday definitely put some questions in front of them. Even though India had won the match 4-2, it was a lack lustrous outing from the hosts, and there were some murmurs of a possible shocker around Kalinga Stadium.

Sunil, who only knows too well the heartbreak of not making it through to the Olympics, says: “What if history repeated itself? Hockey India is spending on us so much. They have brought us sponsors and created such a brilliant atmosphere around us. If we don’t qualify for them, what will happen to the sport. That’s what I discussed with the team in the run-up to the two matches.”

On Saturday, when Russia hammered a goal in just after 30 seconds into the game, the crowd was left stunned. Coach Graham Reid was the first one to admit, slyly though, that he felt his nerves. “I would lie and say conceding a goal at the first minute did not worry me one bit,” he said with a laugh after the match.

But were flashbacks of 2008 going through Sunil’s minds? “No, I was confident. In the meeting, we had discussed that we will target their goals when they make a forward run. We had plans in place if they take a lead, and I knew we will execute them,” he says.

Sunil has not been in-and-out of the team for almost a year. But after putting his best foot forward in the two qualifying games, the 30-year-old was named man of the match and series for his performance. Speaking on his brushes with the injury and on his return, he says: “I was returning after the injury. The physio and trainer worked hard on me. They made plans for me, which I followed adherently. It is our team effort that has helped me in overcoming what was a difficult phase for me.”