As sports delights go, this has to be a weekend that provided the richest fare in recent times. First came the great news for Indian fans with the men's hockey team winning the Asia Cup tournament after an eight-year gap, for its fourth title overall and more importantly ensuring a place in the next edition of the World cup to be held in Netherlands and Belgium in 2026. Then there were the offerings from US Open tennis. First the gritty Belarus champion Aryna Sabalenka grabbing the top honours in the women’s section and then thereafter in the much look forward to men’s final, Carlos Alcaraz swamping his arch rival Jannik Sinner in four sets in a classic encounter.

But first the hockey triumph for here is a sport where India had such high standing in the world once but had slipped thereafter. Only in recent times did we see indications of a revival of that old hunger for more and the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris edition thereafter showed a glimpse of it with a bronze medal win in each. The gold medal success in the Hangzhou Asian games in 2022 underlined India’s stature in Asia but then came a phase when things seemed to go haywire. In the tough pro league that followed, where observers even believed India could be........

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