Dhanraj Pillay's onfield brilliance as well as hishistrionics dominated the year as the Indian men's hockey team struggled to dishout their best on astro-turfs in international meets.
India failed to manage a top-place finish in even asingle major tournament throughout the year though they proved their mettle as aregional power-house by winning the silver medal in the Asian Games in Busan.
The major setback for the team came in the prestigiousWorld Cup held in Kuala Lumpur earlier in the year, where it faltered to finishtenth which resulted in the unceremonious exit of the chief coach Cedric D'Souzamid-way through the tournament.
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With the exception of the mercurial striker, Pillay,and a couple of youngsters, the rest of the team failed to put up a decent showthat saw the side failing to take the top three positions in importanttournaments.
The unheralded women's team, on the otherhand, saw afluctuation of fortunes throughout the year.
Playing with determination and purpose, the eves provedevery one wrong by winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games inManchester before fizzling out in the Busan Asian Games, finishing last in thefour-nation competition.
The 35-year old Pillay, who was the player of thetournament in the Champions Trophy in Cologne, Germany and nominated for the FIHplayer of the year award, was in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Pillay was in the midst of a storm when he abused and pushed the umpires duringthe final of the Nehru Cup hockey tournament here last month. Playing for IndianAirlines against Punjab Police in the final, the star player pushed andthreatened the umpires after being unhappy with a decision.
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The player from Maharashtra also got into trouble forblaming his national team-mates from Punjab for not helping him to play upto hispotential during the Champions Trophy even though India finished fourth and hewas adjudged the best player.
India's two wins against Pakistan -- in ChampionsTrophy and in the Asian Games -- endeared the team to millions of fans back homeeven though it failed to finish on top in both the tournaments.
While the team managed a fourth-place finish in thesix-nation tournament in Cologne, it came second behind hosts South Korea in theAsian Games.
The side's biggest disappointment came in the sportsmega event held in Kuala Lumpur in February-March in which India lost most oftheir matches to finish even behind teams considered minnows in theinternational circuit.
Though India won against Cuba and Poland in the leagueencounters and drew against Japan, they lost four matches, against South Korea,Malaysia, England and Australia for a 10th place finish in the 16-teamcompetition.
India's poor showing led to the sacking of D'Souza mid way through thetournament and assistant coach C R Kumar replaced the chief coach after fourmatches.
The performance in the World Cup irked the uniongovernment so much so that the then Sports Minister Uma Bharati directed herministry to look into the side's debacle.
"India's showing in the World Cup has left a lotto be desired. I have always maintained that every authority has to beaccountable. I can assure you that - haathi ki galti ke liye chuhe ko saza nahinmilegi," she had said.
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India, however, bounced back to their winning ways inthe next major tournament, emerging runners-up in the four-nation event held inAdelaide and Melbourne in May-June.
Taking revenge for their losses in the World Cup, Indiabeat Malaysia and South Korea in the league encounters before getting a 0-6drubbing in the final against Australia.
In the next tournament, India's preparation for theChampions Trophy suffered a big jolt when they failed to win even a single matchin the Rabobank four-nation hockey meet in Amstelveen, Netherlands in August.They were comprehensively beaten by the hosts and Australia and held by SouthKorea for a 2-2 draw to finish at the bottom of the table.
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In the August-September Champions Trophy, though Indiamanaged a fourth-place finish, they won one and lost one against arch-rivalsPakistan in what were billed as the matches of the tournament.
PTI
