Canada and the drying up of Indian hockey fortunes Errol D'Cruz 21 September 2010, 06:53 PM IST
An Indian origin hockey player, flag-bearer for Canada at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games. Astounding to the general public. Big news for sports fans but nothing earth shattering for those who’ve been aware of the changing world of field hockey. Ken Pereira, 37, veteran of well over 300 Games for Canada, is just one of scores of Indian-origin Canadians fighting the odds in a the land of ice hockey to wear the Maple Leaf, and do so with a great deal of pride. Even if it meant selling shirts to help fund a trip to the World Cup which Pereira and his team-mates did before flying out to New Delhi in February this year. The recently retired Wayne Fernandes, Bubli Chouhan, Hari Kant and celebrated coaches Shiv Jagdev and Louis Mendonca — Indian-origin Canadians all — have contributed to a version of hockey obscure to most of their countrymen brought up on a huge diet of the Stanley Cup and Wayne Gretzky. How Indian hockey die-hards have ever heard of them? Pereira’s distinction in a kinky sort of way relives the nightmare of Indian hockey’s fall from grace. Who can ever shake off the memory of Montreal, Canada, way back in 1976? Word Champions and then seven-time Olympic champions, India were mauled by the Australians, humiliated by the Dutch and beaten into submission by the Germans before finishing lowly seventh at the Olympic Games. So called experts on the other side of the world, shell-shocked by the turn of events and labouring under the notion that India and Pakistan had sole rights to hockey,couldn’t accept the new order that rendered New Zealand the champions at Montreal after shocking their trans-Tasman neighbours Australia in the final. India’s newly acquired status of also-rans was greeted, understandably, by a tsunami of indignity at home that sparked the now sickeningly familiar call for ‘total overhaul’ but in all the fury over the debacle nobody ever spared a thought to the progress made by the other nations. The Late AFS Talyarkhan, the legendary though firebrand media personality, hit the nail on the head in his programme ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward’ on Doordarshan the day after the Olympic final. "Have you and I seen the other teams play?" he asked while referring to the scorn poured over losing to nations who learned the game from us. No one paid heed, one would assume. More poignancy. Less than two years later, India took the field at Buenos Aires, Argentina, smarting from the Montreal debacle and keen to set the record straight and retain the World Cup they won in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After struggling to a 1-0 win over Belgium in the opener, India played Canada who started playing seriously at the international level only after being awarded the Montreal Olympics. Bleary-eyed die-hards tuned in to their transistors and radios at the crack of dawn one March morning in 1978 to 70 minutes of "horror". The score at the end of it: India 1 Canada 3. No one lauded the "babes" of international hockey and, amid the wave of despondency, the nightmare kept unfolding — a 0-7 defeat to Germany, a 1-1 draw with England and a 0-2 loss to Spain brought sixth position, the worst for India at the World Cup at the time but ironically one that would do the country proud today. How things have changed! The erstwhile Soviet Union, South Korea and China were the ‘Canadas’ in the ensuing years, building their hockey teams on being awarded the Olympics and/ or Continental Games. They represented fresh minds, ready to soak up new ideas, techniques, tactics and skills, especially on artificial surfaces. And bring in a refreshment to the game that sadly India, buckling under a legacy of eight gold medals and a World Cup triumph, has come nowhere close to doing. Back to Ken Pereira and Canada. The playmaker, who switched to field hockey from version of ice at the age of 17, was the hero of his country’s victory over Argentina in the final of the Pan American Games at home in Winnipeg in 1999. A picture on wires showed Pereira being chaired by his jubilant team-mates in the background. In the foreground was a cute little Sikh boy bounding across the pitch in unbridled ecstasy, waving the Maple Leaf! http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spot-kick/entry/canada-and-the-drying-up-of-indian-hockey-fortunes * * * PHOTO: Ken Pereira http://www.daylife.com/photo/0g8c27O4qtfZY http://ca.news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ken-Pereira-will-attend-the-Commwealth-Games-opening-ceremony-despite-reports-the-Canadian-team-might-give-it-a-miss/photo/02102010/24/photo/photos-n-sports-ken-pereira-attend-commwealth-games-opening-ceremony-despite-reports.html * * * Canada field hockey veteran explores Indian roots Sat Oct 2, 10:09 AM NEW DELHI (AFP) - Like any other kid growing up in Canada, Ken Pereira started off by playing hockey on skates. It was only when he saw a field hockey game on television that he realised the game could be played on grass as well. "When I first saw the sport on TV, it was being played on grass," says the 37-year-old midfielder and captain of the Canada field hockey team. "To be honest, I did not enjoy that at first. But it grew on me. And here I am with more than 300 caps for my country. I am glad I made the right choice as it has been a great ride for me so far." Pereira, whose parents were born in India, has also been named the flag-bearer for Canada at the Commonwealth Games' opening ceremony at the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Sunday. It will be the first time that Canada has chosen an athlete from a team sport for the honour. "For me it means a lot to be leading my team in India. I can relate to the country because my parents grew up here. I still have some of my family in Goa and Mumbai." But whatever love he may have for India, Pereira is proud to represent Canada and says he would never have any second thoughts about switching sides. "Just being born in Canada, I couldn't imagine playing for another country," he said. "Even though (field) hockey is big elsewhere, I couldn't imagine putting on another jersey unless it had the maple leaf on it. "There is a ton of support for me back home. Although I play in the Dutch League, whenever I am around I get a lot of press. "There are quite a few loyal supporters despite field hockey being the poor cousin of ice hockey," says the two-time Olympian. Pereira, who has played in all the three editions of the Games since the inclusion of the sport in 1998, singles out India as one of the toughest sides in the 10-team competition. "Australia are definitely the favourites. but India are very tough to beat at home. I would put India right up there among the title contenders. "I saw them beat Pakistan in the World Cup here (in Feb-March). With a crowd of 50,000 cheering them on, they enjoy huge support," says Pereira whose goal in the 1999 Pan American Games versus Argentina launched the Canadians into the 2000 Olympics. Canada has never won a medal in field hockey at the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics. They climbed into the top 10 in the recently released world rankings despite losing all five of their pool contests at the World Cup in Delhi. Pereira said the team was aware of its targets and was looking forward to improve upon the statistics. "We have five new players in the squad and a new coach in Robin D'Abreo. It is going to be interesting to see how we shape up. We have our strategies in place. We have also studied the tapes of the rival teams. "The Games will provide our younger players a perfect opportunity to perform against quality opposition and gain valuable experience towards our goal of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games." http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/101002/canada/cgames2010_can_fhockey_pereira