Thaindian News

(Attn Editors: This is the second of the previews discussing India’s chances in various disciplines at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games from Oct 3-14. The piece is on men’s hockey.)
By Avishek Roy

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Up against some top guns of world hockey, the Indian men’s hockey team faces a tough challenge as, under home conditions, they look for their first medal in the sport in the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games here.

The quadrennial mega event, being staged by India for the first time, would see ten teams in action on the hockey turf at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Seven of them fought for honours in the February-March World Cup at the same venue, where the hosts finished eighth.

India have been drawn in the tough Pool A alongside World Champions and holders Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Scotland. England, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago make up Pool B.

Past giants India do not boast of a noteworthy performance in Commonwealth Games, where hockey made its debut in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.

India’s best was their fourth place finish in Kuala Lumpur where they lost to England on penalties in the bronze medal play-off after going down to eventual silver medallist Malaysia in a close encounter.

Leaving behind their dismal World Cup showing, India’s chief coach Jose Brasa feels “anything is possible”, but is well aware of the challenge at hand.

“It will be tough (winning medals) because there will be some quality participation in Commonwealth Games. That is one of the reasons why India have not performed well in the past and have not won any medal. The team is looking good and anything is possible. We have to give our best and get the best results,” Brasa told IANS.

Personally, it will be a real test for Brasa, who has been vocal in airing his displeasure on selection and other matters. In fact, his relations with Hockey India (HI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) seem to have reached a point of no return and the Spaniard may not get his contract extended beyond the Asian Games in November.

India’s poor performance in the World Cup triggered the low phase and Brasa is eager to prove himself in the Commonwealth Games.

“It is an important tournament for us because it will also serve as a preparatory tournament for the Asian Games in November,” Brasa said.

“The players have shown lot of improvement. We have still not tested some players in match situations and we are hoping to do that in New Delhi in some practice matches.”

“After the World Cup we have worked on lot of areas like goalkeeping, goalscoring, and also tightened our defence.

“Youngsters like forward Dharamvir Singh, Sarvanjit Singh have been impressive,” the Spaniard said.

There were changes in the squad after the World Cup for the depleted Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia in which India finished joint winners with South Korea. The selectors laid stress on blooding youngsters and left out some senior players including drag flicker Sandeep Singh and forward Prabhjot Singh, but the core remained the same as the selectors did not have a bigger pool to pick from.

Some of the players were given back their original positions and it paid good dividends for the team in the European Tour where India beat Belgium (2-0) and France (2-0) in three-match series and gave a tough fight to the Netherlands in the two Tests.

Before that the Indian team finished fourth in the four-nation Hamburg Masters, behind Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.

“We did not play well at the start of the European Tour, but then we continued to improve as we progressed. Our best was against Holland who fielded the team that played in the Champions Trophy. We held them 1-1 in the first match and then lost by a solitary goal but we were the better team in the last match,” says national coach Harendra Singh.

“After the World Cup, we thought of bringing some players in their original positions and it has been working fine. Tushar was back as forward while Prabodh manned the left half. Sarvanjit, Ravi Pal and Bharat Chikara took control of the midfield. The team has also improved a lot in fitness. Also, players who were new during the World Cup have gained some international experience.”

India for the first time will be going in with one goalkeeper in Bharat Chetri by toeing the line of other international teams. It will give them an extra player for rolling substitution.

“Every team is playing with one goalkeeper now. If Chetri is injured, we have trained Vikram Pillay to take his place. But it will give us the advantage of using another player in the 16-member squad for rolling substitution which will make a lot of difference. It is time we take these risks and also look to execute our plans on the field,” Harendra said.

The home support could be a motivating factor for the team, though it could also put the team under more pressure. However, skipper Rajpal Singh looked at the positive side.

“The crowd support was great in the World Cup and we hope people will turn out in large numbers. We have learnt our lessons and hopefully we will be able to rise to the occasion,” says Rajpal.

The Squad:

Goalkeeper: Bharat Chetri

Defenders: Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Dhananjay Mahadik, Gurbaj Singh, Prabodh Tirkey.

Midfielders: Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Ravi Pal, Bharat Chikara, Danish Mujtaba

Sarvanjit Singh.

Forwards: Rajpal Singh (captain), Tushar Khandker, Shivendra Singh, Dharamvir Singh.