Finally shout. Initial. Raw. loudly. But Ravindran Sreejesh kept strangling himself throughout the game in that Indian goal. All tournament long, in fact. However, nothing could match the decibel count on that last shout.
Taking Germany 5-4 ahead, Sreejesh made another save to save India's lead. Three seconds later, India was crowned the bronze medalist.
India won its first Olympic medal in field hockey since 1980 and that outcry said it all. Forty one years of pain, crappy jokes, administrative goofiness, team politics, worthless talent and just plain jokes... that shout was for everything the fans of this sport had to go through. Indian hockey has been under constant attack for decades, inside and outside.
The players around him didn't know what to do. Some jumped on it. Others fell to the floor, hands covered their faces. Some ran away feeling helpless. The bench ran on the field, the people of the field ran towards the bench. The Germans, now in the background, were screaming in the faces of the umpires. In the stadium, it was Bedlam.
It was a brutal tournament followed by a brutal bronze play-off.
In the group stages, India were wiped out at Australia's jugglers by sleeveless jersey-clad attackers. He had overcome it and went on to win every other game. In the quarterfinals, he pressed for the second half from Great Britain before hitting the game over the counter [Hardik Singh's third goal was rather special]. In the semi-finals they were completely dominated by the penalty-corner conversion machine which is Alexander Hendrix and his world champion Belgium team.
The bronze medal match was his tournament in a microcosm.
Germany dominated the opening 27 minutes - despite a brilliant goal from Simranjit Singh - and all you could hear was Sreejesh cursing his defenders. The Germans were all over India, when suddenly without any notice, it turned. Two penalty corners, two Harmanpreet Singh specials. Soon after another Simranjit goal was scored, this time a classic hunter's finish, and a Rupinderpal Singh penalty stroke. Seven minutes either side of halftime, four goals, straight shoulders sloping - and India had achieved something special. well almost. Germany will score again late, and it will be Sreejesh's magic to make sure they are not involved.
The previous Indian teams used to break down at various moments in this match. When Germany took the lead so quickly. When Surendra Kumar attempted an apparently ridiculous dribble in his own circle and was evicted for Germany's third. When they were in the fund for so long - several times the German got stuck in an infinite loop of penalty corner after penalty corner. However, this team just keeps going. And it shows up in small moments.
- Amit Rohidas is the first to charge whenever he lines up at one of those 13 penalty corners - He'll tell you it's his job, but for most jobs you'll need to drive at 150km/h The hockey ball does not require charging.
- Rupinderpal Singh slipped in the final seconds of the third quarter with a crucial interception, dumping memories of the first run in the defence.
Hardik Singh, who has proved his skill while dribbling again and again.
- Neelkanth Sharma, Missing pass here and there, till no one gets stuck [sublime assist from Simranjit's first goal].
- Mandeep Singh, constantly intimidated throughout the match, charging into the German circle, repeatedly asking for more.
- Manpreet Singh, overwhelmed in midfield, continues to bite and snap and challenge everything. "...we didn't give up. We kept fighting back," he used to say after everything was done.
He pulled it off because he believed – in his coach, in his teammates, in his training, in himself – and because he sprinted to the ground himself. As Graham Reid said after the match, "(It) never ends until it's over. It's always easy to say you should do this or that but there are a lot of things that go on. One of the signings has been this team, which we've tried to grow. [to] make sure we can always come back ... and I think we did."
If you look at it objectively, there are many holes to choose from, but none of them matter at the moment. It's not a time for cold tests, it's time to rekindle an old romance.
Every team that India has sent to artificial turf in the last four decades has had to bear the weight of its glorious past... and has fallen on its own. It's not. And that's why it matters. Why this win was more than just the sum of its parts. Why was he shouting Oh! so loud.
Hockey is not dying. no sir. Its star is bright and has a distinctive bronze luster.