The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Olympic probables leave for U.S. camp

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Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004

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Sport - Hockey

Olympic probables leave for U.S. camp

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, MAY 31. In the midst of training for the Athens Olympics, the news of a few Indian players being offered contracts to play in the Dutch premier hockey league has evoked mixed reactions.

While the senior players view the offer as `a very good sign for Indian hockey', the Games' administrators were keeping a studied silence on the issue.

As the pool of 26 players, headed for the 21-day U.S. fitness and training camp in Phoenix, Arizona, went through their paces at the National Stadium here on Monday, seasoned striker Dhanraj Pillay described the Dutch offer as something that should be taken very seriously.

"I have played in the foreign league and it has helped me to keep fit for so many years,'' said Pillay. "If the players are free after the Olympic Games then they should take up the offer,'' he added.

Though the names of the players being sought after by the Dutch clubs are yet to be announced, full-back Dilip Tirkey confirmed that he has received the offer. "There is an offer from Holland, but I will decide only after the Olympics,'' Tirkey said.

"My first goal is to see that India does well in Athens Games. Other things can come later,'' said Tirkey, who has been India's captain for a few seasons now.

But for the national coach Rajinder Singh, it was too early to comment on the Dutch offer. "Olympics is our main goal. And, playing for the country comes ahead of anything else,'' Rajinder Singh said after winding up his training programme here. The team flies out to the U.S. on Tuesday night.

At the U.S. camp, German experts headed by Oliver Kurtz, the 1992 Olympic gold medallists, will assist the team. Has there been any communication between the National coach and the Kurtz's team? Rajinder Singh said that he did speak to Kurtz but the finer points about the training and strategy would be discussed only after reaching the base in Athletes' Performance Institute in Arizona.

"Though more stress will be on physical fitness, the team would also simultaneously go through hockey training,'' Mr. Singh said. He said all the players were at a good physical level and were capable of undergoing such a strenuous schedule.

Expressing confidence over the way the players have been shaping up, Mr. Singh said that the short corners were still India's weak point. "In the absence of Jugraj Singh we felt it more. So we worked hard on that aspect. Now we have two who can do well,'' Mr. Singh said referring to Sandeep Singh and Jitender Pal Singh.

Though the holder Holland and Australia are in the same pool as India in the Olympic Games competition, Mr. Singh was hardly worked up with it. "Australia is beatable. We have done it quite recently. And we almost defeated Holland in the Champions Trophy,'' Mr. Singh said.

But that very match against Holland where India led 3-0 till the last seven minutes before losing has remained etched in the memory. Jugraj Singh, who has been given opportunity to be with the team and, if possible, shape up till the Olympic Games, said that the team would like to avoid making such mistakes as it did in the Champions Trophy. "We all felt helpless when Holland just bounced back into the game,'' said Jugraj Singh.

About Jugraj's prospect of playing, Rajinder Singh said that the drag-flicker was being trained gradually and it would depend on how he develops in the next two months.

On Dhanraj, Mr. Singh had just one line. "He has just started to train and he is doing good.'' The player himself was optimistic about making it to his fourth Olympic Games. "I am definitely delighted that I have got a chance to play in my fourth Olympic Games and as long as my legs and hands are in playing condition I'll continue to play for the country,'' Pillay said scoffing off at the suggestion that he would hang up his boots after the Athens Games.

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