Happy to see Indian hockey on right track: Mohammed Riaz

It’s been well over two decades but missing an Olympic medal after coming reasonably close to it rankles Mohammed Riaz to this date even though some of his regret has eased after seeing the national team claim podium finishes in the mega-event’s last two editions.

The 53-year-old former mid-fielder from Tamil Nadu was a part of the Indian team that ended a 32-year wait by clinching gold at the 1998 Asian Games. But the team could not replicate the performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, bowing out after the quarterfinal stage.

“Playing Olympic is the biggest thing and coming close to the medal and not winning it is the biggest regret. I will regret it for the rest of my life but I am happy that India won bronze medals (in 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics) ending that long wait,” Riaz told ‘PTI Bhasha’ in an interview.

In 2000, India were just about two minutes away from booking a berth in the semi-finals but a late equaliser from Poland crushed their hopes. Thereafter, at Athens 2004, India hardly made an impression before failing to qualify for the next edition at Beijing in 2008.

Hockey experts believe that the class of 2000 was the most balanced team and the strongest contender for a podium finish after the eighth and last Olympic gold in Moscow in 1980.

It featured legends like Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar, Dilip Tirkey, Baljit Saini and Riaz among others. Riaz feels that with back-to-back Olympic medals, India are on the right track to revive the glory days of the sport. He said the focus should be on improving the colour of the medal in the future Games.

“Indian Hockey has completed 100 years and it has been a long journey. It feels good after winning back to back Olympic medals. We have strong grassroots level long-term plan,” he said. “Earlier we used to be at the 7th or 8th place in the rankings but now we are in the top five so definitely the graph is going up. We have to focus on the World Cup, Asian Games and the Olympics,” he added.

“Now we have got the confidence that we can compete with any team in the world. We can come in the top three in the Olympics but we have to work hard and with the experience and youth in the team, we should target reaching the final of Los Angeles Games in 2028,” said Riaz.

He also expects some junior players to get a chance in the senior team ahead of World Cup to be held in Netherlands and Belgium in August next year. “We have a very good senior team but few players are playing for a very long time now. We have to give some junior players a chance. There should be a long term strategy about how to compete in the World Cup,” he said.

He feels that the Indian team should not feel intimidated while playing against top teams but the team should work on improving its conversion rate inside the scoring zone.“When we are playing a team like Germany, we must not get scared of its reputation of being a champion. If we play without that mental block, we can beat any team in the world,” he said.

“We are in the top league but the only difference between us and European teams is that they convert chances in the circle while we miss many. “In tough games you get only two or three chances and you can not afford to miss those,” added the chairman of Tamil Nadu Hockey Association’s selection committee.