Beaten 2-0 by Britain in the final of the qualifiers at Santiago, India has failed to make the cut for the Beijing Games — the first time in 80 years when the eight-time gold medallist will not be at the Olympics.

As a heartbroken and furious hockey fraternity called for the ouster of Indian Hockey Federation president K P S Gill, some even demanding dissolution of the governing body, quite a few said they were not surprised — they had seen this coming. The failure to make it to the Olympics, they said, was probably the shock therapy Indian hockey needed to start afresh and work its way up the ladder.

In Chandigarh, former captain and Olympian Balbir Singh Senior said the team’s exit should serve as a wake-up call for people who love the sport.

“I am shocked, most hurt as I have had a long association with hockey. Today, I feel as I have lost a close relative,” Singh said. He said it was a day to ponder, not just for those associated with the game or its top brass, but the government, media and the public as well. “It will be easy to criticise two or three people, but that will not lead us to any solution. We have to rectify the system as a whole,” he said.

Dhanraj Pillay, who cried himself to sleep after Carvalho’s men failed to beat Britain for the second time in a week, said: “Whatever you say is not enough. This is the worst day for Indian hockey. I’ve been crying myself hoarse for a while now. The IHF never tried to take the help of players like me who played for the country so long.”

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