Indian men’s hockey team chief coach Graham Reid on Thursday steered clear of the controversy surrounding the FIH annual awards, saying the honour which he and his players received were a recognition of their sacrifices in the last one-and-half years.

India swept the International Hockey Federation’s annual awards on Wednesday, claiming all the top honours based on a voting system which was lambasted as a “failure” by men’s Olympic champions Belgium, prompting the FIH to say that it would try to figure why some associations did not cast their ballot.

Five Indian players and the head coaches of both the men’s and women’s teams in Tokyo claimed the top honours across different categories after fetching the maximum votes.

Asked about the controversy, the Australian said: “Look, as coaches and players we have nothing do with how things are chosen or the system. We just go out there and play to our best.

“I see this as a reflection of the sacrifices and work put in for the last 16-18 months by this team during lockdown. It is great to get some recognition for the group and it is also a reflection of hockey in India. It is a great thing for world hockey.”

Harmanpreet Singh won the men’s ‘Player of the Year’ award and Gurjit Kaur was recognised as the best player in the women’s section.

Veteran P R Sreejesh and Savita Punia won the best goalkeeper awards in the men’s and women’s section, while young striker Sharmila Devi (women) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (men) were adjudged best rising stars.

The coach lauded the contributions of recently retired Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra and SV Sunil, saying the trio had set an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Savita focused

The Indian women’s hockey team will settle for nothing less than a gold in next year’s Asian Games to seal a direct ticket to 2024 Paris Olympics, said Savita.

“The whole world has supported us after our fourth place finish at Olympics but when you get so close to a medal and come back empty handed, it is a kind of pain which only athletes can understand,” she said during a virtual media interaction.

“Our main focus is on the Asia Cup, which is a World Cup qualifier and then there will be World Cup and then it will be the Asian Games.

“Of course coming fourth in the Olympics took a lot of effort but just like we missed the bronze at Olympics, we had missed the gold in last Asian Games, so we need to put extra effort,” said the senior India player.