Indian National Hockey Camps to conduct training – Hockey Update
The National hockey camps of India are ready to begin the training from March 16 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi.
The first priority for the Men’s hockey team is to get prepared for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup that is to take place in Ipoh Malaysia from May 5 to 15.
Such a preparation will head a pathway towards attaining a confirmed seed in the 2012 London Olympics. It is for sure now that all eyes are stuck at the newly appointed coach Harendra Singh regarding how well he would carry the team until the mega sports
gala ahead. He will be pin pointed and compared with the team’s former coach Jose Brasa and his training strategies.
Hockey India (HI) expressed their happiness for the Sports Association of India (SAI) to confirm Singh’s appointment for the critical job. HI Secretary Narinder Batra said, “We have appointed him till the 2012 Olympics. We believe that continuity is critical
if the team has to do well.”
Up to 43 feasible players have been announced by HI considering that they are suitable for the training camp.
Batra said yesterday, “The players have started arriving. The camp will start tomorrow.”
The total number of the camp’s training squad has risen to 45 that will practice and polish their sport abilities under Singh’s supervision. The players will show up at the Major Dhyan Chand national stadium in New Delhi today and will begin their proper
training after a three-month gap since the Asian Games that was held last year.
On contrary to what the chief coach has in mind, the Indian team captain Rajpal Singh believes that in does not matter if India wins or loses in the Azlan Shah Cup as all the team is aiming for is to qualify for the Olympics 2012.
As Rajpal said, “Win or loss in Azlan Shah Cup tournament does not matter much to us as we see it as the beginning of our preparation for the tough Olympic qualifiers, which will start next year.”
Disappointingly, it was the first time in 80 years that the Indian hockey team could not qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on losing in the finals of Santiago’s Olympic qualifier event against Britain by 0-2.
This year the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will be conducted among the seven international teams namely Korea, Pakistan, England, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and India. It will be interesting to see how well India does in the mega event as they are now focused
on qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. The impact the new coach Harendra will have on the team will be determined by the performance of Indian in the Azlan Shah Cup.
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