A sea change at the administrative level, birth of a promising league, rise and fall of the juniors and women outplaying men - the pendulum of Indian hockey kept swinging to and fro in 2013.
Save for the silver lining of a world cup bronze won by junior women, 2013 was a year that once again saw on-field success restricted to subcontinent turf. Still the Asian crown eluded senior men, leaving the 2014 World Cup qualification dependent on a backdoor entry from Oceania.
It's believed that a country doing well at the junior level is best placed to reap benefits in senior tournaments. From that perspective, the last 12 months have seen improved results, if not as many medals, in Indian hockey.
Women led by example on the junior front with a historic bronze in the World Cup held at Monchengladbach, Germany. Senior women didn't let that momentum drop, and while gold remained elusive, an Asia Cup bronze and silver in the Asian Champions Trophy capped the year on a progressive note.
Junior men were on a similar path. Sultan of Johor Cup gave Manpreet Singh and his team the belief that winning the junior World Cup at home was not impossible. But a team primed for something special had an upset in store.
The campaign that had so much hope attached to it ended in a heartbreak. India failed to enter the quarter-finals, losing a golden opportunity to bring fans to the stadium and lift sagging hockey spirits at the dawn of a new year. They finished 10th in the 16-team event.
The big boys started their year with unbeaten run in the newly introduced FIH World League. A six-match winning streak saw Sardar Singh & Co book a place in the league's semi-finals that doubled up as World Cup qualifiers. But the Indians failed to secure a top-three finish in the semis at Rotterdam, which was first of the three doors for World Cup qualification. The second one opened at the Asia Cup, from where only the winners earned a direct entry.
India beat Pakistan to signal a black year in the neighbours' rich hockey history. For the first time, Pakistan were out of the World Cup, and India in the Asia Cup final against Korea - just a step away from booking a ticket to The Hague. But that didn't happen. Korea got the better of India, who, by virtue of their victory over Pakistan, now waited for either Australia or New Zealand to win the Oceania Cup to give them a reserve place from Asia. Australia were crowned champions of Oceania and unlocked India's door to the World Cup.
Besides that Asia Cup silver, it was a disappointing year for the senior men, who could only secure a fifth-place finish at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and met a similar fate at the Asian Champions Trophy, where Hockey India had sent a squad largely comprising of juniors to help them prepare for the World Cup.
HOCKEY INDIA LEAGUE
The HIL remained the most anticipated hockey event of 2013. Domestic by nature but involving world's all leading players, the inaugural event proved to be a blessing for the players. While every player earned a never-before sum for playing 30 days of hockey, the uncapped Indians got an opportunity to rub shoulders with the world's best players under world's best coaches.
The league earned relative success, barring the controversy surrounding Pakistan players, who, after tension at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, had to return home amid widespread protests.
The one-month long league then went ahead smoothly, giving rise to players like Mandeep Singh who was named Upcoming Player of the Tournament. His team Ranchi Rhinos was crowned the champion, pocketing Rs. 25 crore after beating Delhi Waveriders 2-1 in the final. Uttar Pradesh Wizards finished third on the podium.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES
Last 12 months perhaps saw the most administrative changes ever made in that period in Indian hockey.
Illness forced senior team coach Michael Nobbs to end his contract midway, sending Hockey India on a fresh search for the team's chief coach. Applications were invited and after much deliberation, largely surrounding salary, Australia's Terry Wash was named Nobbs' replacement.
Before that though, HIL success with UP Wizards earned Roelant Oltmans a high-profile position with HI - its High Performance Director. Besides that, coach of the HIL champions Ranchi Rhinos - Gregg Clark - was named the junior men's team coach. Also MK Kaushik and Vasudev Baskaran were added as Walsh's assistant in the senior dugout and former South African goalkeeper Dave Staniforth was roped in as goalkeeping coach.
Equally noteworthy was the complete revamp of HI's selection committee. The HI Executive Board appointed Olympian BP Govinda to lead a nine-member selection panel that included former India captains Gagan Ajit Singh and Arjun Halappa, who are still playing competitive hockey. That was a fresh change in approach, with young faces brought in, who better understand the needs of modern hockey.
The panel picked in July for a period of one year also included Syed Ali, RP Singh, Savitri Purty, Mamta Kharab, Surinder Kaur and Saba Anjum.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS
* The Indian Ministry of External Affairs once again red-flagged the planned home-and-away series agreed upon by the Indian and Pakistani boards to revive bilateral hockey ties, thus extending the seven-year hiatus.
* India managed to successfully bid for the 2018 Men's World Cup (senior), winning the six-nation race with Australia, Belgium, England, Malaysia and New Zealand. England, however, managed to win the hosting rights for the women's edition.
* India captains Sardar Singh and Ritu Rani won the Asian Hockey Federation 'Player of the Year' and 'Youth Player of the Year' awards, respectively.
* Hockey world rose to a rude shock, learning that the International Olympic Committee thought of removing the sport from the Olympic programme in 2020 before eventually putting wrestling in the group of eight sports fighting for one spot.
* Hero MotoCorp signed a major sponsorship deal, bagging the title rights for all FIH events to be hosted by India in the next four years.
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