Arjun Harappa the legendary striker of the Indian hockey team is still in state of shock after the humiliating defeat from Malaysia in the heartbreaking semi-final of the recently concluded Asian Games.
Harappa, who is a leading striker and most senior player of the Indian hockey team, was severely hurt by the deprivation in the hockey gala.
Indian hockey team, which did not lose any game in the league matches failed to maintain the victory level in the semi-final stage and was defeated by emerging Malaysia.
Arjun Harappa who is still confused as to what happened in the extra-time, talking to the media said that they were playing great game but the fortune changed in the last six minutes of the match. He further said the game slipped out from their hands the
moment they lost concentration and Malaysia took advantage.
Arjun was of the view that the Indian hockey squad was probably best in last two years, adding that they delivered striking performance in the recent tournaments regardless that they were heavily beaten by Australia in the final of the Commonwealth Games
and were also thrashed by rising Malaysia in the semi-final of the Asiad.
It is pertinent to mention here that India overpowered Pakistan the gold medallist squad of the Asian Games in the league match and defeated South Korea in the third-place play-off match. South Korea and Pakistan were best teams of the tournament as one
was a defending champion while the other clinched the 2010 title.
The senior-most striker does not want to be part of a stink of the Indian hockey, which is worsening day by day. The downfall began when skipper Rajpal Singh levelled severe allegations against chief coach Jose Brasa. He expressed that there were differences
among the duo sides as things were not so good in the grounds.
Arjun Harappa said, “Whatever each of them spoke, I can’t comment on that. I can just say that had there been differences during the games, you wouldn’t have seen such cohesiveness on the ground as was quite visible. Had the coach and skipper won’t have
seen eye-to-eye, they wouldn’t have done well.”
However, he applauded the role of both the skipper and the chief coach saying that they had worked hard to improve the team’s level. Commenting on the query that whether a foreign coach should head the team or a local trainer, Arjun said that the federation
would take better decision in this regard.
Despite little pressure, Arjun expressed hopes for the qualifiers of 2012 London Olympics, which will be held in India. He stated that the Indian squad would take the advantage of home grounds and surely would get a slot in the mega event.
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