FOUR-NATION TOURNAMENT

Indian eves for Chile bash

Bangalore: Indian women get into the competitive mode in January with a tough four-nation hockey tournament in Chile coming as their lungopener in the New Year.

India, Italy, Argentina and the hosts will fight for honours in the January 17-24 tournament in Santiago which will be preceded by two test matches between India and Argentina in Buenos Aires.

The competition mode will come after nearly four months of hard training and is bound to provide national coach MK

Kaushik with enough pointers to the nucleus that he has planned to form in the latter half of 2009.

Meanwhile, another camp got under way at the Sports Authority of India, South Centre here on November 7. It will end with the selection of the team in the middle of December for the South American sojourn.

Twenty players of the 42 selected for the camp, including Mamta Kharab, have reported. The number is bound to swell in the coming days with a few juniors, who couldn’t make it to the Junior Asia Cup team, too likely to join. Amongst others, Jasjeet, Surinder and Marita have not reported as they are in various stages of rehabilitation.

Mamta, who was recently promoted as a DSP in Haryana Police, missed the previous training schedule after she sustained a knee injury in the first camp. She admitted the task ahead of her was challenging but was confident she would meet the fitness demands of her coach in the coming weeks.

“It is all part of the game,” she said. “I have got into the groove now, working on setpieces, focusing on penalty corners and analysing the videos. I should be in top shape soon.”

Kaushik said he would zero in on penalty corners (both attack and defence) and other basics which will essentially be a continuation of what was initiated in the second camp.

“We will end the camp here on December 14 and reassemble in Bhopal on January 2. That camp will be only for the team selected to play in the four-nation. We should be leaving for South America on January 9 or 10,” said Kaushik, while expressing happiness that the support staff and equipment that he had demanded when he took over as coach in September had been finalised.

In between, India are likely to host the Azerbaijan women’s team too, the national coach said.

“They may play practice matches against us either in December or January. Former Pakistan forward Tahir Zaman, who is their coach, placed a request and we have agreed to it. I would personally want the matches during the camp here or in Bhopal. But the federation will take the final decision,” Kaushik said.

The players, who will disperse on December 14, will turn out for their respective state teams in the zonal meets ahead of the National championships (inter-zonal) to be held in Bangalore in February, it is learnt.