We are finally in Sydney. The repeat 4-Nation Challenge Cup starts here on Wednesday at the Olympic Park Hockey Centre, half an hour drive from our hotel. This ground is on par with the best such facilities anywhere and present a great spectacle.
Sydney evokes mixed feeling in me. Foremost is the feeling of frustation in the last Olympics here. My fellow Olympian Vasudevan Baskaran’s team failed to defeat Poland in the crucial last league match. That was, in my view, the closest we came to the Olympic semifinals in 30years, but we failed.
Secondly, it’s at Sydney my team kickstarted for laurels last year. Though I took over the coaching in May 2002, my team obtained its first title only at Sydney last year. Thereafter, we went on to win some more tournaments including the Hamburg Masters and importantly the Asia Cup. Not many times did we manage to score five goals against the fastest side in the world, Australia, as we did last year in the title match.
As in the first leg at Canberra, we will engage Malaysia, a team not so in high spirit after failing to qualify for the Olympics, in the opener. However, the Malaysians proved their worth by defeating South Africa in Canberra and therefore we won’t take coach Yaha Atyan’s team lightly. A good start on Wednesday will mean half job done.
The team to watch here is of course the hosts. Coming as it is after the highly competitive Australian Hockey League, this tournament gives their players opportunites to fine tune their game. Last year, coach Barry Dancer fielded two teams, senior and A, making use of Argentina’s last minute withdrawal. That time I found no difference between these two Australian teams as this country is full of talent.
This time around the hosts might not have fielded two teams, but did the same thing but differently. They selected a 24-member contingent and rested six players at Canberra. The rested players will now play at Sydney. The new players now include Dean Butler, Adam Commens, Jamie Dwyer, Stephen Lambert, Craig Victory and Mathew Wells. But the core of the team remains intact with Brent Livermore, captain Paul Gaudoin and Troy Elder doing marvellous job in the midfield.
Craig Victory and Jamie Dwyer are good scorers and therefore my aim will be to mark them closely. Young Jamie, the 2003 FIH Player Of the Year, is fast and opportunistic. But he returns to the field after a long gap due to injury. Craig is a seasoned player.
As I often said, the second leg will be tougher. Teams have already gauged one others’ strenghs and weaknesses and therefore the things will be tighter for any team now. Unfortunately, we have got some injury problems. Prabhjot Singh and Kawalpreet Singh are ruled out for Sydney leg. Inderjeet Singh will play at left wing while Harpal, if he continues to show the form he exhibited in the final at Canberra, will have longer stints on the pitch.