Hands firmly across his chest, and not even the hint of a smile on his lips, Neil Hawgood's body language might have seemed inexplicable. The coach of the Indian women's hockey team had just watched his side create history. They had beaten China 2-1 following goals from Grace Deep Ekka and Deepika Thakur, in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy. It was the first time in four attempts that India had claimed the continental crown.
The players themselves were ecstatic. They draped themselves in the national flag. They danced in the team bus and ordered previously forbidden pizza once they got back to the hotel. On the ground they had even made an attempt to hoist Hawgood on their shoulders but the Australian would have none of it and the girls gave up after lifting him a few inches off the ground. When it came for posing for pictures with the trophy, Hawgood, still with very little expression on his face, stood in the corner of the frame.
The Indian team understood.
"Coach gets emotional very quickly. After our match against Japan [where the team settled for a draw after giving up a two-goal cushion] he was crying. This time he was so happy that he probably didn't want to show his emotion," Deepika told ESPN soon after scoring the winning strike off a penalty corner with 17 seconds left on the clock.
Hawgood would explain his actions later. "I get more enjoyment from watching the girls celebrate. It is their success and they deserved to be at the centre of it all," he told ESPN from Singapore following what was only his side's third win against China in the last 13 encounters.
The win was the second bit of history that India have created this year. They had broken a 36-year drought by qualifying for the Olympics. Once there, the side performed poorly, losing all but one game and finishing with a -15 goal difference. Hawgood and his team, however, believe that the bruising experience in Rio has paid off.
"We can't underestimate the role that qualifying for the Olympics has made to the team," he said. "You learn more from a big lesson than a number of smaller lessons. At the Olympics, the team learned how they needed to play at a higher level for longer periods of time."
Against a Chinese team ranked four places higher than them at eighth in the world, India were able to soak up spells of sustained pressure, particularly in the second and third quarters when the game seemed to ebb. "The team was able to knuckle down," he said. "They were able to stay focused and get through those hard periods."
Deepika, who with 182 caps is the most experienced member of the squad, and had featured in three winless Asian Champions Trophy campaigns before this one, said the side is much stronger mentally.
"Unlike in previous editions, we weren't worried how we would perform this time," she said. "After having qualified for the Olympics we don't just want to be a team that takes part. We don't think we are just a normal team any more. We expect better from ourselves. Is baar jeet ki bhukh aa gayi hai team mein (We have the hunger to win now). Frankly anything less than winning the Champions Trophy would have been a disappointment for us."
Indeed, Hawgood had told his side before the tournament that this was their best chance to claim the continental crown. "At the end of the Olympic cycle, most teams will be rebuilding [China would send a U-21 squad]. On the other hand, we only had three seniors [albeit including captain Sushila Chanu] missing out this tournament," he said.
While he expected the title, Hawgood rates the win highly simply because it means that the momentum created by the Olympic qualification is maintained. However, he knows that while his side are competitive in Asia, there is a long way to go. "We are top of the mountain in Asia, but only halfway up where we need to be at the world level," he said.
The team will have little time to rest on their laurels. Flying back to India on Saturday, they begin training almost immediately. After a 10-day camp, they head to Australia where they play a three-match test series against a side to whom they lost 6-1 in the Olympics. "We have bigger challenges," he said. "Hockey goes on."
Hawgood says the side will pick another three or four newcomers for the Australia tour. There are also other areas India have to work on. The team's penalty corner woes continued in Singapore too. They converted one of seven in their final league game against China, which was the only game they lost in the tournament.
"We don't need just a single drag flicker," Hawgood said. "We probably need two or three. But when I returned to the Indian team 12 months ago, I didn't feel that we had the time to develop one before the Olympics. But it is something we need."