‘India playing fast, aggressive hockey’

“India are playing well in the Olympic qualifiers,” said former captain Rajpal Singh. “They have been fast and aggressive. However, they should concede fewer goals.” Singh, along with Viren Rasquinha and Adrian D’Souza, was at a suburban hotel for the unveiling of the World Series Hockey trophy.

Rasquinha, too, was positive about India’s chances. “We’ve been playing good hockey. The players have looked intense. The fitness levels seem to be good. We need to carry this momentum to the final,” he said.

A few questions were raised over Yuvraj Walmiki’s fitness.

Walmiki had suffered a hamstring injury before the game against Canada. “Yuvraj is a fine player,” said Adrian. “He needs to recover and be 100 per cent if India go to London.”

India play Poland on Friday and the players expressed their confidence in the team. “It’s a talented side. They are taking their chances when given penalty corners, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t do well,” concluded Singh.

Present at the function was Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan. Yannick Colaco, COO of Nimbus, the organisers of the event, said that the tournament is good for the sport in India and could help in the overall development of the game’s infrastructure.