The Hindu : Sport : India blanks China

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 04, 2005

Sport

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India blanks China

Hockey Correspondent

Chennai: A brace each by Adam Sinclair and Gagan Ajit Singh brought cheer to the Indian camp as the team registered a 4-0 victory over China in an exhibition hockey match at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Saturday. Coming as the first practice match a week before the Sahara Champions Trophy, there was enough space and time to experiment with various permutations and combinations.

Satisfaction

There was a sense of satisfaction that all four goals were scored by the frontliners against what can be described as solid Chinese defence.

The team management consciously avoided putting pressure on the drag flicker but there was concern over Sandeep Singh not converting any of the five earned. This is an area where the coaches have to work more in the time available. Sandeep's flicks lacked not only power but direction as well.

The mid-field was conspicuous with Vinay at the right making some fluent moves with Vikram Pillay. In the deep defence, Kanwalpreet Singh, was prominent.

For a task-master like the former Olympic captain, Harmik Singh, who is the manager of the squad, the outcome was nothing to go gaga about. He was emphatic about effecting improvement in every segment. The only solace for him was the skill of the attack that managed to penetrate the defence wall that China had put up in the match.

Nice saves

For the Chinese, goal-keeper Xiang Fei brought off a few nice saves. Sung Tian Jun kept the defence busy with his quick sallies and almost busted the resistance late in the match.

Although Dilip Tirkey was present at the venue, there is a question mark over his fitness. It is claimed that Dilip is on road to recovery, but a definite decision to keep him in the squad or not is unlikely before Monday.

The IHF secretary, K. Jothikumaran, informed that the president, K.P.S. Gill, who will be here on Monday will elaborate on this question about Tirkey.

In the event of Tirkey being declared unfit, the IHF will have to name a new captain. Sources indicated that the mantle might fall on Gagan Ajit Singh, who led the Indian juniors to World Cup triumph at Hobart in 2001.

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