Mail Today: India women’s hockey team looks to rework on their strategy, says coach Mathias Ahrens

We faced a few issues in some areas during the tournament and this preparatory camp will give us ample time to work on the grey areas, says India women’s hockey team coach Mathias Ahrens.

The Indian women’s hockey team coach Mathias Ahrens says the girls have grown in confidence after playing against some of the top teams at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Belgium recently. The national camp for the team will begin in the Capital on Saturday and Mathias said the girls will work on their weak areas such as defence and penalty corners.

“The team has performed very well at the Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015. They got a good opportunity to play against the best hockey teams in the world and the experience will put them in good stead for upcoming tournaments.
“We faced a few issues in some areas during the tournament and this preparatory camp will give us ample time to work on the grey areas. We will work on defence and penalty corners, the areas where the team faced troubles during the tournament. The camp will also see some young talents and we will train them along with the senior players,” Mathias said.

The 23-day camp will be held at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium. To start with, 48 players will be part of the coaching camp for one week and then it will be pruned down to top 33 core probables. The camp will also include youngsters who made a mark during the 5th Hockey India Women National Championship held earlier this year.
The 48-players consist of 8 goalkeepers, 13 defenders, 10 midfielders and 17 forwards.