New Delhi, 16 Jan 2014: India had a light training session on the rest day before the semifinals and minor placings matches which take place at the Major Dhyan Singh Stadium here on Friday. After a good showing in two games with major teams, India wants to make major improvements to imbibe and sustain a good standard of hockey before World Cup this year in the Hague.

The Indians advanced their training session from 7.30 pm to 3.30 pm and had a 1-hour session and a closed session where they practised penalty corner variations.

The Indian Chief Coach is confident that he can work out the improvements in the Indian team which may start yielding results in four to five months despite the tough circumstances an Indian federation or government provides. But he was genuinely concerned about the team’s progress.

“It may take about 9 to 10 months for the Indian players to understand an implement the changes we are making. They were in no contention for the last 20 years and to change that scenario, it would take a bit more time,’’ he pleaded, unable to answer the provoking queries from the media, who were looking for an overnight magic cure of all the ills.

Indian player S V Sunil said: “We have been analysing the videos of all our matches and accordingly working on areas where we have been lacking. Also, the pep talk by the coach motivated us to give our best on the field.”

Former Indian player Mahadik is an unsung hero. He records and runs every video of the team and analyses them for the players, showing them where they have gone wrong. He is one of the coaching staff, who Walsh is very impressed with.

A former Indian coach, who is presently supporting Walsh with the Indian team quipped that he is one member who the Indian chief coach is very happy with.

Sunil added: “The previous match against Australia was lost due to our silly mistakes, such as man to man marking and losing simple possession. We are working on the same to better our performance against the Olympic champions Germany.”

Skipper Sardar Singh is confident of the coach’s training systems which he believes can transform the team. He said: “The practice sessions are helping us to improve our performance on the field day by day and work on our flaws. The youngsters got an opportunity to play against the top teams in this tournament and have picked up many tips by seeing them play. The improvement is evident and this tournament is helping us improve every day in preparing ourselves for the World Cup.”

Meanwhile, Bobby Crutchley, the chief coach of England said: “the boys have managed to get the desired results by not losing a single game till now. This is the result of sheer hard work that the team has put in over the months and managing to keep their cool and sticking to the basics during their games. The key was also to convert the penalty corner chances that the team got and this helped in keeping an edge over the opponents at all times. Also individually we have been working on some players which have paid off. We are looking forward to our semi final clash against New Zealand and I am confident the team will again give a good show and reach the finals.”

The English captain Barry Middleton was thrilled to be the only unbeaten team so far. He said “I am yet to come over this feeling of staying unbeatern… how did we manage to stay undefeated so far. It’s a very good feeling but in all this the team is not losing focus and is looking forward to New Zealand during the semis. In our last match here we beat them and hoping we do it again tomorrow. One positive is that players like Ashley Jackson and Tom Carson are in great form.”

ends