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Belgians get down to business

Hockey Correspondent

The team played an exhibition match against TN XI
The first Test is scheduled for January 25

. — Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

IN RIGHT EARNEST: Dekeyser (left) and Gucasoff of Belgium fine-tuning their skills during the team’s practise session

Chennai: Just how seriously the Belgians, now in city for the five-Test hockey series, are taking the Indian challenge can be gleaned from the passion they had exhibited to get into a competitive rhythm and trim.

The 24-member squad, under the watchful eyes of the renowned Australian Olympian, Adam Commens, wasted no time to get a feel of the ground, the weather and the ambience on Sunday.

After a strenuous session the players were back in training on Monday morning at the YMCA College of Physical Education. What more, the team had another workout in the evening at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, and then figured in an exhibition match against the Tamil Nadu XI.

The Belgians who are coming here from sub-zero temperature back home are in a hurry to get themselves acclimatised to the heat and humidity of Indian conditions.

What is inspiring the Belgians now has been their exceptionally good performance at the last European Championship at Manchester in which they stunned the World Champion Germany, to grab a place for the Beijing Olympic Games. Belgium figured last in the Olympic Games in 1976 at Montreal.

The cynosure last evening at the stadium was the two penalty corner strikers, Gucassoff and Dekeyser. The first of the five Tests is scheduled on January 25.

The Indian team, now in training at Bangalore, is expected to reach the city on Tuesday. Admission for all the matches is free.

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