The Hindu : Sport : Crucial match for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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Sport

Crucial match for India

S. Thyagarajan

HOCKEY / The fulcrum has been the team’s midfield

Rajpal and Prabhjot excel in the frontline
The Kiwis have been awesome

Boom (Belgium): It is not often do we see India fighting its way to a position of advantage. The back-to-back wins over European outfits here in the men’s hockey Champions Challenge is one such euphoric moment.

The victories over England, and then the home team, Belgium, on Tuesday by a very convincing margin has engendered hopes of India making it to Sunday’s final.

The soft spoken and pragmatic chief coach, Joaquim Carvalho, is not the one to be coerced into saying something that amounts to exaggeration.

There are hurdles to cross. India takes on the formidable Pan-American champion, Argentina, on Thursday, and an equally tough Asian opponent, Japan on Saturday, before anything be said about the possible final.

Successful gameplan

What obviously has pleased Carvalho is the success of his gameplan so far. The weather did play a part in skewing up the charted course a little, but the dry pitch and fairly ideal conditions on Tuesday helped India to put in a very convincing performance.

The conversion of penalties as also the field goals scored showed the team is well equipped to score.

The fulcrum has been the midfield. The consistency of Bimal Lakra and the hard work of Gurbaz and Prabodh were noticeable as were the efficiency of the deep defence manned by Dilip Tirkey supported by Xalco.

Sandeep catches the eye

Expectedly, Sandeep Singh is the cynosure not merely because of his physique but for the ability seen in him as a lethal striker in penalty corners.

True, he was out of his rhythm earlier, but on Tuesday he produced a superb drag flick to hoist the lead that prompted the Indians to elevate the whole concept of attack to a different pitch.

Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot continue to attract attention in the frontline. Shivendra came up with an opportunistic goal, which should perk up his confidence inside the circle. The young Roshan Minz is yet to contribute much to the frontline, though none can fault him for his enthusiasm and enterprise.

As for the rest, the Kiwis have been awesome, surging into a rhythm of victories with a touch of assurance led admirably by that seasoned pivot, Ryan Archibald.

On the top of the table with nine points and a goal difference of plus of eight, their place in the final is almost assured unless something dramatic happens against Belgium and Argentina.

After the defeat against Belgium, the Argentines recovered their poise to prevail over Japan, but there are several loose ends observed in their displays.

Belgium’s hopes of cashing in on the home advantage crashed after the 1-4 reverse against India as were Japan’s after a promising start against Belgium.

England’s woes

England, touted as the favourite by a section, hovers around at the bottom fighting for the last two places. Jasan Lees face mirrored the anguish of his team’s disappointing showing although England’s chief coach is now keen to turn attention on the forthcoming European Championship at Manchester in August.

The event will determine the top three places for the Olympics at Beijing.

Tuesday’s results: India 4 (Sandeep Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Shivendra Singh, Dilip Tirkey) bt Belgium 1 (Gregory Gucasoff).

New Zealand 3 (Ryan Archibald, Hayden Shaw, Dean Couzins) bt England 1 (Rob Moore).

Points table: New Zealand 3-3-0-0-9-1-9; Argentina 3-2-0-1-8-6-6; India 3-2-0-1-7-5-6; Belgium 3-1-0-2-5-8-3; Japan 3-1-0-2-2-7-3; England 3-0-0-3-6-10-0.