Bangalore: India’s chief hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne warned Tuesday that India will always remain at No.6 in world rankings if the players don’t improve their ball-intercepting skills. India’s next assignment after winning the Asia Cup, is the Hockey World League Finals, to be played in Bhubaneshwar, December 1-10. It will be a completely different tournament as most of the participating countries are far stronger than India’s Asian rivals.
“I think we can improve in every area. The players need to improve intercepting balls because launching counter-attacks is one of the strong points of India. We are too good at that and we can be a danger for any country. However, to do that, we have to improve our ball interception skills. If we can’t we will always No. 6,” Marijne told this agency.
The world rankings are led by Argentina and they are followed by Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The coach also asserted that the Indian team need to work on consistency.
“Sometimes we are really good but the level drops too low, and if we do not work on it, rival countries would get goals against us. We need to work on consistency,” asserted Marijne.
Talking about the Hockey World League Finals, Marijne said that he was expecting some surprise results. “If you consider the rankings, Argentina are No.1 and Australia are No.2. But, there are few others, like Spain, who did good things this summer. Competition in men’s hockey is getting tougher by the day. We may get to see some surprise results, which is good for global hockey,” Marijne pointed out.
Marijne though said it’s difficult to predict how India will fare in the tournament. “I don’t want to put ourselves in pressure situation, but there could be some underdogs among lower-ranked teams. I cannot promise India winning Hockey World League, but I would certainly not rule out our chances,” pointed out Marijne.
While talking about India’s Asia Cup title-triumph, Marijne appreciated leadership qualities displayed by some players. “Usually it is PR Sreejesh, Sardar Singh and SV Sunil who lead from the front. I wouldn’t want to name them now, but in the Asia Cup there were quite a few others who demonstrated leadership qualities. It is good for Indian hockey,” informed Marjine.
Press Trust of India
