ERROL D’CRUZ

Janneke Schopman, coach of the Indian women’s team to the 2021 FIH Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, is excited over her team’s prospects.

The Dutchwoman along with captain Lalremsiami and vice-captain Ishika Chaudhary addressed a virtual media conference on Tuesday, November 16, during which they sized up the team’s potential and challenges at the 16-nation tournament for under-21 players that runs from December 5 to 16.

Schopman’s confidence is based on the potential the team possesses in three vital spheres of the game — fitness, speed and a promising penalty corner drill.

Marvellous player from Mizoram, Lalremsiami will shoulder the responsibility of Indian challenge at South Africa JWC

“I am happy that physical fitness is where it needs to be,’ Schopman said. “It’s in a good place and we can use to chase other teams, tire them out and cause them to make mistakes.”

She however made clear that not much is known about the physical fitness levels of the other teams involved and that the players would have to push themselves every second of the game.

“More than anything, it’s going to be mind games but we’re in a good place when it comes to fitness,” Schopman said.

The Dutchwoman, a former coach of the USA and an understudy to compatriot Sjoerd Marijne who guided the team to a commendable fourth place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, believes the team’s speed will go a long way in a difficult campaign.

“The team can turn defence to attack and the other way around very quickly. The speed that this team shows is not very often seen at junior level and will benefit us especially in the four-quarter system being used for the first time at the Junior World Cup,” she said of her team which has been training hard at the SAI Complex in Bengaluru.

Vice-captain Ishika Choudhry

Schopman struck a high note, however, when it came to penalty corners.

I’m pretty excited about our PC attack,” she said. “We have a good penalty corner drag-flicker and I’m very excited to see how it goes against the other teams.

“We also have spent a lot of time on variations as well as ways to defend penalty corners with senior team members contributing a lot in terms of imparting knowledge and overseeing training.

“Things have looked good in the last week and a half and we are finalizing our strategies at a meeting tonight to make sure everything’s super clear.”

Schopman who juggles with both the seniors and juniors said it was a challenge not just from the physical point of view but also from the constraints of time to oversee the progress of both teams.

She, however, looks at the great positives that mutual interaction of both teams can bring to Indian hockey.

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“It’s really satisfying to see the juniors benefit from the senior team especially the knowledge of what’s required at the international level.

“And in time the seniors could benefit with the induction of a few players from the junior string,” she said.

Lalremsiami, a forward in the senior team as well, concurs. “We want to use our experience in the senior team to boost the junior team which is very skillful.

“Since I last played for the junior team, I have noticed their on and off-pitch skills and awareness of situations have improved.

Ishika, a defender, views the many plusses from rubbing shoulders with the seniors at the camp especially when it comes to “experience sharing and excellent communication.”

Knuckling down to tournament preparation, Schopman reflects on the handicaps that she and her team will take in their stride.

“We are placed with defending champions Argentina, Russia and Japan (in Pool C). Argentina are a top side but we know little about Russia and Japan who haven’t been too active at junior level,” she said.

“The senior team toured Argentina earlier this year and played against their U-21 team and I’m sure Lalreimsami, Salima Tete and Sharmila Devi (senior team members) would know a bit about them.

Schopman, however, reflected on the less-than-ideal build-up to the event caused by the pandemic.

“Yes, there’s been a lack of international competition but it is what it is,” she said.

Jenneke (right) joined Indian team a year ago after Bhubaneswar OQS

“Our tour to the Netherlands where we were scheduled to play eight matches was cancelled. But we played a series of games against the India senior team and it showed where the junior players are in the game, how they could improve, be more threatening.

“Of course, they don’t have too much experience of playing abroad, experiencing travel, food and recovery but by playing a better team (India seniors) the team has gained a lot of confidence,” Schopman revealed.

The joint exercises, the coach explained, have brought in benefits, she surmised. “True, the training methods and approach may be a little different but the principles involved are similar.

“We carry out the same exercises for both teams and it gives us a chance to see the difference. The seniors are a bit speedier, for instance, but I am a big proponent for juniors taking up the challenge and being able to meet it. After all, they have tactical awareness in their game play.”

Is she scouting players for the senior team? “I am. But at the start when I came to the camp in September, I hadn’t seen too many junior players player and I didn’t even know their names,” Schopman explained.

“But I can see know that some players have potential and could make the transition from the junior to senior side very quickly.”

The legacy of the epic performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the senior team came within a whisker of winning a medal may bring the pressure of expectancy from the sporting public but Lalremsiami only talks about the positive impact on her junior team.

“Playing with the seniors who did well in Tokyo has boosted the confidence of the team,” the midfielder said.

A blast from the past, though, could work wonders. India sensationally picked up a bronze medal at the 2013 Monchengladbach Junior World Cup and hobnobbing with some of the players involved in that piece of history, now in the senior team, could make a vital difference to the team’s confidence.

“They tell us that we could also do something similar,” Lalremsiami said.

Those words could go a long way as the team gears up for the long haul to Potchefstroom where the temperature of 35C matches the hot challenge that lies in wait.

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