This team is much fitter, says coach Hawgood

By Ritu Sejwal

NEW DELHI: After hosting several Hockey India League matches recently, the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium will come to life again with the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 (men & women) scheduled from February 18 to 24 in New Delhi.

The Indian women start their campaign against Kazakhstan on February 18 and play a higher-ranked Japan on February 22. The host team, which is seeded second in the tournament, has undergone a number of changes with junior players replacing the seniors.

India’s chief coach Neil Hawgood, who has been working with the women’s team for over six months, feels the girls are a fitter lot. “The team is a lot fitter, which allows them to concentrate a bit longer. In Ireland during Champions Challenge (four months back), our inability to concentrate for full 70 minutes let us down,” chief coach Neil Hawgood told TOI on Wednesday.

“Change is always good. It keeps everybody honest. We are at a point where we have a lot of junior players in the squad and with this we are letting the senior players know that they need to be better.”

On his expectations from the tournament, Hawgood said he will be looking to win all the matches and showcase some good hockey. “I am expecting the girls to play their best hockey in six months. In this event, we can’t take any team lightly because we have to win every game. It’s not about who we play, we can’t afford to lose any match,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Japan are wary of the hosts’ ability but are confident of putting up a good show. “Ours is a young team which was put together at the end of last year. But we are a higher-ranked team. Of course we want to qualify for the world league,” Japan’s coach Yoo Seung Jin said. “Our oldest player is 35, youngest player just 20, so it’s a blend of experience and youth,” Jin added.

While saying that this event was important, Jin said his team’s focus was the 2014 Asian Games.

In the men’s category, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Oman, Fiji and India are participating, whereas Japan, Russia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Fiji and India will be competing in the women’s category.

FIH, HI to conduct high performance coaching course

As part of the Hockey World League in New Delhi, the FIH and Hockey India will hold a joint high performance coaching course from February 16 to 22.

The course is the second part of a coaching education program for elite coaches who aspire to be high performance coaches. It aims to identify coaches from all areas of India and provide them with advanced coaching tools. Thirty coaches across India will be participating in the course. The first course was held in Lucknow in September 2012.