Azlan win is just a beginning: Harendra Singh

NEW DELHI: India coach Harendra Singh on Sunday said the victory in the Azlan Shah tournament is a step forward in finding a pool of players before the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year.

India lifted its fifth Azlan Shah trophy when they were declared joint winners along with South Korea as the final was washed out.

Harendra Singh refused to read much into the win saying largely the participating teams were in experiment mode but still drew many positives from the tournament.

“Win is a win. But we must not go gaga over it. This is only a beginning. The competing sides like us were trying new set of players. Had we won after playing the final, it would have been sweeter,” Harendra said at Ipoh, Malaysia.

“Yet there are positives. The young players whether it was Mandeep Antil or Vikas Pillay, they have met the expectations and I am sure we are in right direction of finding a good pool of players before the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,” he added.

The coach said most of the competing teams at the Azlan Shah will be up against India in the Asian Games as well so when the Indian players will see the same faces whom they have beaten they would go into the tournament with high confidence.

Harendra said the experimentation should continue for some more time.

“There is a long way to go and this is only first step. This testing of new and young players should go on,” he said.