Australian Ric Charlesworth terms Pakistan, India favourites for nine-a-side hockey series
Arch-rivals, Pakistan and India, who have been hockey rulers for decades, have been declared favourites for the upcoming nine-a-side Lanco International Super Series to be held from October 20th to 23rd, in Perth, Australia.
According to veteran Australian coach, Ric Charlesworth's, concept, Hockey Australia introduced a nine-a-side format to revolutionise the sport and make it more free-flowing and viewer-friendly.
Charlesworth declared Pakistan and India the most suitable teams to win this new format of the game.
Although fitness and stamina are preconditions of gaining victory in the tournament, the two South-Asian countries will still have an edge over the Oceania-region teams, according to Charlesworth.
The host Australia is featured with New Zealand, India and Pakistan in the maiden Super Series.
The Kookaburras trainer continued, “These rules are made for India and Pakistan in my view. Most of us in Australia, love the way India and Pakistan traditionally play the game. We learnt most of our hockey from what we saw in the sub-continent”.
Charlesworth underlined, “Just as in the 70's when Kerry Packer revolutionized cricket and the game evolved, this is an opportunity to experiment with the rules of hockey”.
Meanwhile, CR Kumar, coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, also affirmed both Pakistan and India as front-runners to lift the title of the new-style hockey series.
The two arch-rivals have superior skills as compared to the other teams to play a fast and fluent game, he observed.
However, he was not quite optimistic about the Indian girls to show impressive performances.
He stated that their major focus will be on the four-nation tournament rather than the nine-a-side Super Series.
In his view, the new-format will play a vital role in making or spoiling the careers of the custodians.
It will not be an easy task for a keeper to manage the bigger goals in the fast games, he added, saying that a goalie will have to prove his worth in merely 15 minutes.
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