India clubbed with Germany, Belgium in tough group at Hockey World Cup
BENGALURU: Since the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal-winning feat of the men's hockey team and the fourth-place finish of the women, Indian hockey has enjoyed considerable spotlight. Come Wednesday, the women will look to build on it as they begin their campaign in the FIH Women's junior World Cup, which gets under way in Santiago, Chile, on Wednesday.
The team, led by Preeti, will eye an elusive gold in what is their sixth appearance in the 10th edition of the competition.
India are in a tricky pool in the 16-team event. The 2013 bronze medallists are placed in Group C, along with previous editions runners-up Germany, Belgium and Canada. The top two teams from each of the four pools will make it to the quarterfinals.
India, ranked sixth in the world, will go into the competition with the confidence of having won the Junior Asia Cup in Kakamigahara, Japan in June this year. First up for India are Canada, who are ranked 18th. While India are expected to win their campaign opener, coach Tushar Khandker stressed that there is no room for complacency in the team.
"In a World Cup all teams have to be treated equally. The approach is simple: break down the competition game wise and take it forward from there," the 2012 London Olympian told TOI on the eve of the tournament.
The team, which lost to England in the bronze medal playoff in the previous edition, goes in with expectations of claiming their maiden trophy, but Khandker has ensured his wards are not weighed down by expectations.
"Having played at the highest level, I know what pressure and expectations can do to the best players. So, I've ensured all the noise about medals has been cut out. Instead, I've told the girls to go out there and play good hockey and enjoy their game. It is important for the girls to play freely as a team. This is the biggest platform at this level, so the focus is on giving the best account of themselves," he pointed out.
In the build-up to the tournament, one of the key areas Khandker focused on was communication. "The message to the players is clear. They have to take individual responsibilities on the field and communicate with each other," he added.
According to Khandker, who took over the reins in July, watching the senior team play and train has helped the junior side. "Since both the senior and junior team train at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, the junior girls learn by watching the senior players. They watched the title-winning performance of the senior team in the Asian Champions Trophy recently and there were a lot of takeaways from it."
