New Indian Express: Injuries to Star Players Notwithstanding, Hawgood Looks at Positives as Games Loom

BENGALURU: The Indian women’s hockey team’s performance in the Hawke’s Bay Cup (New Zealand) leaves much to be desired. Especially considering the team has qualified for the Olympics after 36 long years, and the Rio Games is in August.

The team leaves for England next week for a few Test matches, and later against Australia and Japan Down Under. They also play Tests against USA later.

Coach Neil Hawgood was not happy with the performances. “New Zealand was disappointing. When you take out international caps — we left Ritu (Rani) behind, Anuradha (Devi) worked on her hamstring, and Sushila Chanu on her knee — it’s a bit of a disruption, but we didn’t play well. We know we’ve got to address that, but we were still creating enough chances. That’s the plus side of it,” the coach said at an interaction at the Sports Authority of India Southern Centre here on Friday.

Hawgood, however, felt the team is playing better now. “Hawke’s Bay would say that we weren’t on track. But we’ve played better against the boys’ teams here than we did in any game in New Zealand. We’re playing a lot faster. I think we’re okay,” said the former Australian player, while adding one of their biggest weaknesses is starting a game well.

The 53-year-old also played down injuries to key players. “Sushila’s was a pretty big knee injury. It could’ve led to a knee reconstruction, but we think braces will do, and she’ll be back in training in the next three weeks. We could’ve taken Anuradha, but the risk of her hurting herself again would’ve added four weeks to her recovery, while Ritu’s is more about recovery,” he felt.

The other area of concern is injured penalty corner specialist Jasprit Kaur. “She’s been unavailable for the last three months due to a back injury. We created enough corners, and I’m not worried about that. I’d be worried if we weren’t winning corners,” he felt.