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He endured a few sleepless nights whereas coping with the trauma of lacking out on an important Olympics semi-final however Amit Rohidas is indebted to his teammates for not as soon as letting him really feel ostracized after his purple card led to Indian crew taking part in with 10 males for 42 minutes throughout its hockey quarter-final in opposition to Nice Britain. The Indian males’s hockey crew secured a record-extending successive bronze medal, their thirteenth Olympic hockey medal, regardless of the setback of Rohidas’ purple card within the quarter-final in opposition to Nice Britain, which led to his suspension for the semi-final.
“I actually missed the semi-final due to the one-match suspension. It was such an important match,” the 31-year-old India’s defensive mainstay advised PTI in an unique interview in the course of the crew’s felicitation on the India Home in Paris on Saturday.
“Pura nation aur mere teammates mere saath the… Kabhi crew se emotionally bahar hone nahin diya. Mera focus bas aagli match pe thaa (I knew the entire nation and my teammates Emotionally they by no means ever let me really feel that I am an outsider or sidelined. I used to be absolutely targeted on our subsequent match.” The Indian first-rusher was penalised within the seventeenth minute of the quarter-finals for a swinging stick that inadvertently struck British ahead Will Calnan within the face.
Though the on-field referee initially didn’t deem it a critical offense, the choice was upgraded to a purple card after a video referral.
This led to a one-match suspension for Rohidas, sidelining him for the semi-final in opposition to Germany, which India narrowly misplaced.
Reflecting on the incident, Rohidas mentioned, “I do not know what persons are saying exterior, however I do know as a participant what I’ve gone by means of. It wasn’t intentional, and the referee’s choice is a part of the sport.” Regardless of being right down to 10 males, Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh put up a dogged present to take the match to the shootout, the place he as soon as made the distinction along with his heroics to take India into their second successive Olympics semi-finals in hockey.
“It gave me immense pleasure to win over our opponents within the shoot-out regardless of being lowered to 10 gamers. We confirmed our countrymen how we are able to struggle regardless of the numerical drawback. It was not simply as soon as however twice we made information — beating Australia after 52 years, and successful with 10 gamers,” he mirrored on their marketing campaign.
Any regrets not with the ability to improve their Tokyo Olympics bronze to a gold or silver? “Possibly the color of the medal would have modified nevertheless it’s all destined you can’t change something. Fortunately we’re not returning empty-handed. That is nation’s medal.” Having began off with a rusty win over New Zealand in a troublesome pool A, India grew from power to power match by match and their largest win got here once they defeated Australia 3-2 of their concluding league match.
The bronze medal match in opposition to Spain was a becoming farewell for veteran goalkeeper Sreejesh, who performed his final worldwide match capping an ideal present because the Indian ‘wall’.
“Sreejesh bhai is probably not there on the pitch after the retirement, however he’ll all the time be there with us as a information and mentor. I am positive whoever takes his place beneath the bar, we are going to work collectively as a unit as we now have been doing all this whereas. We’ll observe the identical course of,” he mentioned.
Rohidas, who has been a key participant in India’s protection, additional spoke concerning the collective management inside the crew.
“There isn’t a one chief in a crew, 16 or 18 everybody contributes within the management position. We do it collectively. Our crew doesn’t have one chief.
“Sure, there’s a designated captain, nevertheless it’s a crew recreation. All of us give our inputs, plan, and execute accordingly,” he emphasised.
Mike Horn’s Boot Camp : It was one hell of an expertise
Earlier than the Olympics, the crew underwent a difficult three-day boot camp in Switzerland led by adventurer Mike Horn, who was beforehand related to MS Dhoni and Co earlier than their 2011 triumph and likewise the Germany crew within the FIFA World Cup win in 2014.
Rohidas fondly recounted the expertise.
“Accha bhi lag raha tha, aur upar se phaat bhi raha tha. Sab precautions thaa however agar kuchh ulta pulta ho jaata toh wahan likelihood nahin hai. (We had all the protection precautions however we additionally freaked out. It was like balancing between life and demise).
“An impressive and unimaginable three-day tenting. It could look straightforward from exterior, however solely we knew what we went by means of whereas climbing on the cliffs after which the descent—up and down — and how you can preserve stability. It actually made our minds more durable, stronger,” he recollected.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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