India redirects their attention from the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Hockey News
Despite of the fact that this year’s victory in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will record a hat-trick for the Indian Men’s National hockey team, they have redirected themselves in qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The team has now set their eyes towards attaining their prime motive of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and are showing the least bit of interest towards winning the Azlan Cup for a third time in a row.
One of the basic reasons is that the team is lacking the number of experienced players to earn the title for the country. The preparatory camp being held from March 15 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi comprises of 45 attendants out of
which many of them are young players with very little international experience.
Similar to their arch-rivals, the Indian team also had no international competitions since the 2010 Asian Games of last November.
Disappointingly, the well-reputed drag-flick expert Sandeep Singh is also not available for the Azlan Cup that is soon to be held in Malaysia from May 5-15.
India has very little chances to complete their hat-trick because the World’s best hockey teams are to be competing in the May event including Malaysia, Australia, England, South Korea, New Zealand and Pakistan.
India has some glorious memories from this event as they have won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup five times until last year, precisely in 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010.
In consideration to all the possibilities, the Indian team has now targeted themselves in spending their full concentration towards the Olympic qualifiers. Therefore, the preparatory camp established in Delhi has some long-term set objectives for the Indian
Men’s team.
Such emphasis is being laid upon the Olympic Qualifiers due to the fact that in 2008 Beijing Olympic Qualifiers India lost the final match against Great Britain in Santiago and failed to qualify for the Olympics, for the first time in 80 years. It was all
the more shocking because India had a previous record of eight Olympic victories in hockey.
Currently, India needs to win the qualifying rounds of the upcoming Olympics and secure their place in the mega event. It has become all the more important since losing a gold medal win in the 2010 Asian Games.
A complete training schedule has been developed for the Indian team in the light of the Olympic preparations. The training is quite relaxed but very focused at the same time.
The training has been divided into three sessions, the middle one being a rest session. Such a schedule will allow the players to stay physically tuned without getting stressed out, thus boosting their physical and mental stamina.
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