Hindustan Times: Hockey World League Final:?India fine-tune tactics in 1st training session

The Men’s Hockey World League Final (HWL Final) will see eight top teams in the world compete at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from?December 1

Officially, Indian men’s hockey team set the ball rolling on Thursday, holding its maiden but strenuous training session for the Men’s Hockey World League Final, which starts on December 1 in Bhubaneswar.

The team went through the paces in the morning under the watchful eyes of chief coach Sjoerd Marijne at the Kalinga stadium, after arriving in the city on Wednesday.

The mega event will see top eight teams in the world battle for supremacy. Defending champions Australia will take on hosts India in their first match of the tournament (Pool B) on the opening day.

Sjoerd emphasized on speed and tactical drills during the session as the 18-member squad played a short 30-minute half-court match. “Our first practice session went well. It is good to be at the Kalinga stadium,” Marijne said after the 90-minute session.

“While it is my first time here, for the players it is like home because all of them have played many Hockey India League (HIL) matches here. The pitch is fast so we like it,” added the Dutchman.

In the next one week, the coach wants to build intensity during training sessions.“The focus is to get the intensity higher and higher for our conditioning as we approach match day. Our preparations have been really good with the 18-day national camp in Bengaluru but there is scope to get our level higher ahead of the tournament,” he said, adding, “We play short matches among ourselves so we keep the guys in match momentum.”

The team is due to play a practice match against Olympic gold medallists Argentina on November 27, and England on the following day.

“For me, the most important thing is performance. Rupinder (Pal Singh)?and Biru (Birendra Lakra), who are making a comeback, will also get an extra match before going into our first game against Australia,” said Sjoerd.

“While I am happy with how the players have done in training, playing matches is always good. It doesn’t matter that England are grouped with us,” added the coach. “Playing practice match against any team is welcome and also both teams follow each other closely so there are not many secrets between each other.”