We’ve 80% chance of qualifying for Olympics: Nobbs

BANGALORE: Indian hockey coach Michael Nobbs feels that the team’s progress had exceeded expectations in the recent weeks and that it had an 80% chance of qualifying for the London Olympics now.

“When I first came I said we’ve got a 20-30% chance of qualifying. I think we have an 80% chance now. People say it’s not a hard group, but it’s relative. Any team can lose on the day. Is it an easy pool? No. Is it a hard pool? No, we’re not playing Germany or Holland. It’s somewhere in between.”

Meanwhile, India’s defence will get special attention as Nobbs gets down to brass tacks at the national camp at Sports Authority of India, South Centre. But there are no quick-fix solutions as Nobbs felt the problem needed a more integrated approach.

“Defence has always been a concern. We’re not as mobile as we should be; we don’t know our defensive patterns well – we haven’t had time to sit on the pitch and practise drill after drill to fix up the defence. They’re not difficult problems to fix. It’s just a time issue,” he said on the opening day of the camp on Monday.

On the positive side, Nobbs felt the attack had improved by leaps and bounds.