Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Quick exit: On India’s loss at hockey World Cup

Quick exit: On India’s loss at hockey World Cup

India needs to give quality exposure (प्रदर्शन, संसर्ग) to its young hockey players

India’s campaign (अभियान) in its second consecutive hockey World Cup at home had a dream start when local boy Amit Rohidas scored a brilliant goal in front of a packed house and the host beat Spain 2-0 at the spectacular (शानदार, प्रभावशाली) new Birsa Munda Stadium in hockey hub Rourkela. Ten days later, the euphoria (उत्साह) burst like a bubble as sixth-ranked India crumbled (To break into small pieces or fragments) under pressure against 11th-placed New Zealand and lost the cross-over match via penalty shoot-outs to leave the capacity crowd at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar disheartened (निराश करना, उत्साह भंग करना). Now India, which finished inside the top-eight in the three previous World Cups it hosted, will play for the ninth to 16th places. The premature exit of India — which had 13 players from the Tokyo Olympics and 14 from the 2018 World Cup (where it reached the quarterfinals) — proved to be a shocker especially as the team entered the World Cup as an Olympic medallist for the first time in over four decades. The post-mortem has begun and questions are being asked about a few past performers being left out of the squad. Even though picking players was a prerogative of those who were tasked with it, some flaws (गलती, दोष, खोट) were glaringly (स्पष्ट) obvious.

Poor penalty corner conversion (five out of 26, primarily due to an off-colour drag-flicker and captain Harmanpreet Singh), a porous (झरझरा, छिद्रपूर्ण) defensive structure, forwards’ below-par showing (four field goals in as many matches), losing ball possession (कब्जा, अधिकार) in crucial (महत्वपूर्ण) moments and the overall lack of consistency in maintaining the intensity prevented the Graham Reid-coached side from achieving its potential. Nine goals from 94 circle entries and 49 shots on the goals was a telling statistic on India’s woes. Key midfielder Hardik Singh being ruled out due to an injury in the pool stage and ace goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh getting hurt during the shoot-out against New Zealand were big blows. Some experienced hands not getting a chance during the shoot-outs might have hampered (बाधा डालना, प्रतिबंध करना) India’s prospects (संभावना, आशा) too. India needs to do a reality check and address the issues quickly ahead of the Asian Games, which is an Olympic qualifying event, this year and the Paris Olympics in 2024. Even though India’s 48-year-old wait for a World Cup medal has become longer, Hockey India president and former India captain Dilip Tirkey, who has underlined (रेखांकित करना, ज़ोर देना) the areas of concern (चिंतित होना, लगाव रखना), needs to take corrective steps to put the team back on track. Executing plans such as reviving the Hockey India League to give quality exposure to young Indian players and identifying a big pool of drag-flickers will contribute in lifting the standard of hockey.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Exposure (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रदर्शन, संसर्ग
English Meaning - The state of being exposed.

2.Campaign (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - अभियान
English Meaning - A systematic course of action launched for some specific purpose.

3.Spectacular (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - शानदार, प्रभावशाली
English Meaning - Marked by an impressively large-scale display of something.

4.Euphoria (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - उत्साह
English Meaning - A state of intense happiness or well-being.

5.Dishearten (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - निराश करना, उत्साह भंग करना
English Meaning - To depress the spirits of somebody.

6.Flaw (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - गलती, दोष, खोट
English Meaning - A feature that defects the perfection of something.

7.Glaring (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - स्पष्ट
English Meaning - Highly obvious

8.Porous (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - झरझरा, छिद्रपूर्ण
English Meaning - Full of pores.

9.Possession (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - कब्जा, अधिकार
English Meaning - The act of possessing.

10.Crucial (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - महत्वपूर्ण
English Meaning - Extremely important.

11.Hamper (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - बाधा डालना, प्रतिबंध करना
English Meaning - If someone or something hampers someone or something, it means they are making something difficult or interfering with something you are trying to do.

12.Prospect (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - संभावना, आशा
English Meaning - A place that commands an extensive view.

13.Concern (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - चिंतित होना, लगाव रखना
English Meaning - To care about some matter of trouble.

14.Underline (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - रेखांकित करना, ज़ोर देना
English Meaning - To emphasize something.

15.Crumble (Verb)

English Meaning - To break into small pieces or fragments.