The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an opportunity. Has been for 36 years now. And India, still smarting from the 2018 Odisha World Cup disappointment in Bhubaneswar, will have done well to avail of the chance to regroup and tweak structure and style for the crucial Hockey Series Finals in Bhubaneswar in June where two Olympic qualifying spots are up for grabs.

The invitational tournament, into its 28th edition, has been a epitome of Malaysia’s contribution to world hockey. It not only broke the long gap in the international calendar (before the Pro League’s inception) but presented participants team-building opportunities ahead of challenges ahead – the Olympic qualifying route being the focus this year.

So India, in a state of disarray following the ouster of coach Harendra Singh after the World Cup, have gone into the tournament with performance director David John at the helm and Australian compatriot Chris Ciriello, the analytical coach at Bhubaneswar, his deputy.

The duo hope to steady the boat even as Hockey India search for a foreign coach to replace Harendra. If the grapevine is to believed, another Australian, Graham Reid, is set to take over the reins.

In Ipoh, where the six-nation tournament has already kicked off with India beating Japan 2-0 in the opener on Saturday, the team is devoid of a spate of first-choice players sidelined by injuries.

That, however, provides the team the right scenario to galvanize itself in the wake of competition that, far from being pushovers, threaten to dispel any notion that a place in the final is India’s for the taking.
Asian Games champions Japan restricted India to 0-1 with five minutes to go, conceding another goal after they brought in an outfield player in place of their goalkeeper.

Their master tactician and Dutch coach Siegfried Aikman has eyes firmly placed on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where Japan (ranked 17) hope to put in a monumental performance.

South Korea (18) under coach Shin Seok Kyo are desperate to re-enter the top echelons fter missing two global majors – the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 World Cup.

Canada (10) bring a dint of hard work, determination and a craving for top-flight match practice into a lead up campaign to the Hockey Series and the Pan-Am Games that will decide their Olympic qualifying fate.
Poland are in Ipoh with a mission to emerge from the wilderness, in the outdoor game at least. Last but not least, hosts Malaysia under legendary Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans want to go better than five silver medals at their own event, not to mention make up for the bitter disappointment of finishing 15th out of 16 at the World Cup.

The Malaysians also want to make amends for defeat in the Asian Games final to Japan where they let slip a direct Olympic spot with just 13 seconds left. The Azlan Shah Cup, one suspects, will be Oltmans workshop to mould a team that could retrieve a ticket to Tokyo that agonizingly slipped away at the death in Jakarta.

At the World Cup, India came to grief against formidable Netherlands in the quarterfinals but not before being provided a whiff of victory. They took an early lead in front of their own impassioned fans but lost their way to a combination of flagging concentration, tactical shortcomings, errors in defence and deplorable indiscipline that resulted in a 1-2 defeat. (Pic above: Azlan Shah Cup Indian team of last year, which had different coaches)

It all converged to wilting under pressure, the common factor in their major campaigns in 2018 that also included the Champions Trophy (loss to Australia in the final), Commonwealth Games (loss to New Zealand in the semis) and a debilitating defeat against Malaysia in the Asian Games semifinals in the shootout after conceding the equalizer 90 seconds from the end of normal time.

With much less at stake in Ipoh than the high-pressure situation in Bhubaneswar, the team and its think tank would dare and do, one expects, challenging themselves at every opportunity to iron out the flaws that ended their campaign prematurely going by huge expectations before the event.

Without the bulwark Harmanpreet Singh and co-defenders Chinglensana and Rupinderpal Singh along with forwards Lalit Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, SV Sunil and Akashdeep Singh, the team must look surely look at the flip side – that of building a broad base for international matches to compensate for the non-participation in the FIH Pro League at which participating nations have already a head start.

Captain Manpreet Singh has the personnel to deliver the goods at Ipoh but must surely look far beyond.
The hard-working midfielder will be glad to have Vivek Sagar Prasad back to assist him in the supply line to a depleted forward line, weakened further with an injury to the promising Gurjant Singh.

The onus will however be on the experienced Mandeep Singh who will need every support from the profusely talented Simranjeet Singh.

(Pic: India outplayed Japan for 8-0 in Jakarta last year)

Manpreet, though, will justifiably count on his defence where the veteran goalkeeper Sreejesh and deputy Krishan Pathak along with defenders Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar and Kothajit are expected to hold fort with aplomb.

With four outright triumphs and one shared title (with South Korea), India would want the Azlan Shah campaign to infuse energy into a qualifying campaign that would lead to, one never knows, a special moment at the Olympics.

Ask the Aussies. The Olympic title was their holy grail. They finally found it at Athens 2004. Along the way the Kookaburras left one with the conviction that it was going to be their time. Much stemmed from the Azlan Shah Cup won in a rousing victory over Pakistan in the final.