Indian Hockey Captain Arjun Halappa optimistic for Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup
Arjun Halappa, the newly appointed skipper of the Indian Hockey team has stressed the players to keep focus on the importance of the 20th version of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scheduled to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 5 to 15.
The event, in which world’s best seven squads are going to take part, will be a great opportunity for the Indian team to evaluate their capability ahead of the Olympic qualifiers. The qualifiers for the London Games will be the main target of newly appointed
Halappa to prove his worth as a captain of the squad. He urged the players to continue their developmental game both, as a team and as an individual.
The skipper while talking to the media said that the newly adopted system was providing positive results in development of the team. The European style hockey will help them to build a strong defence line as per the international standard, he added.
Halappa stated, “We have believed in a system for the past two years and people have started realizing its benefits. We are playing a little bit like the Europeans with emphasis on man-to-man marking and thrust on defence where even the forwards fall back
to help the defenders.”
He further said that it was a more easy and vital way of playing the game. They weren't a large number of drastic changes required and their main objective is to earn a spot in the 2011 London Gala.
The players from the Indian hockey squad are ready to face world’s best teams. But the absence of Sandeep Singh, Sardar Singh and Rajpal Singh might have a negative impact in the performance of the team. However, it would be a great opportunity for youngsters
to prove their worth in the national squad.
The skipper stated that the experienced players would assist the youngsters to prepare a tough squad for the future tournaments. A powerful back-up line could be required at any major stage, thus, the Malaysia based tournament would be important event for
new faces to display their game.
The major question is, whether Halappa was the right choice for the captian's job. However, Harendra Singh, the chief coach of the Indian team, was of the view that the newly appointed captain would be the best choice for a long time.
He revealed that the skipper had the quality to communicate with his players and could lead the squad in the major tournaments. As a cool headed player, he is considered one of the best seniors in the team, the coach maintained.
The Indian team will face Korea in the first match of the mega event, which was the winning-partner of India in the last edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
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