Nine-a-side quite a challenge: Nobbs

BANGALORE: Two rounds of 9-a-side matches, with the second on Friday featuring Sardar Singh and Sandeep Singh, have had chief coach Michael Nobbs seriously thinking about perfecting the new concept.

The matches were fun alright but there were fundamental changes in rules that he had to grapple with.

For starters, penalty corners were a four-attackers vs three-defenders exercise, one where drag-flickers had no role. Each penalty corner lasted 25 seconds with the stopwatch being at its ruthless best.

Then there was the penalty stroke which was a one-on-one affair. The International Hockey Federation has already introduced this rule during the shootout but the only difference is that the Aussies have made it more challenging for the goalkeeper by widening the goal by a metre.

“The exposure to the nine-a-side version on Wednesday was interesting. There were a lot of mistakes, we learnt an awful lot. We realised we required practice in scoring goals off penalty corners. There are so many variations. We also realised we could virtually substitute the entire team with new players as we have 18 or more players. I guess we need to understand the concept better,” Nobbs said.

What struck the players was that there a lot more room for them to manoeuvre. “This is designed to speed up the game. The space has to be utilised well,” he said. “Now how do we do that? What would be the best combination for this version? More attackers, ball-players or defenders? It has us stumped.”

Nobbs welcomed the penalty corner routine saying that it discouraged drag-flicks and put a premium on skills. “The time taken too is less. Traditionally each penalty corner takes around 40 seconds. Around 15-20 of them mean we lose a considerable amount of time.”

So how will India’s drag-flickers benefit from the tour Down Under, which begins on October 12? “There are 11-a-side friendlies planned with national teams of other countries. That should help them as we prepare for the Olympic qualifiers.”

Sandeep, Sardar happy to be back

Sandeep and Sardar, who left the camp last month ahead of the Asian Champions Trophy, attended their first practice session on Friday. “We are happy to be back,” both said in unison. “We had problems in the family which have been sorted out. That’s the reason we went back. Now our first priority is India. Our focus is on the Olympic qualifiers.”

Both players denied any rift with Rajpal. “If there are any doubters, they can come and watch us while playing,” Sandeep said.

Sardar attributed his misdemeanours to a ‘bad phase’ that he underwent. “We promise that we won’t repeat them again. India is paramount to us.”

Meanwhile, Nobbs insisted the players would have to apologise to the team. “The apology will happen when the entire team arrives (expected to be Saturday),” said Nobbs. “It is must and there is no change in that stance.”

Players to get cheques on Sunday: Hockey players who figured in India’s triumph at the Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, China, earlier this month, will receive their cheques of Rs 1.5 lakh each at Sports Authority of India, South Centre on Sunday.

The sports ministry had announced the cash awards last week after the players had rejected Hockey India’s paltry sum of Rs 25,000 each.

SAI director-general DD Verma will give away the cheques. SAI executive director (teams) PC Kashyap too will be present along with SAI regional director SS Roy.