India’s dominance in Asia can trigger yawning, but the nature of modern hockey can knock you out if you blink when you have to duck a punch.Under its last two coaches, Graham Reid and Craig Fulton, India have learnt that art well.
In Paris, India were pushed to the ropes by a red card in the quarterfinal against Great Britain. It almost neutralized the high of beating Australia at the Games for the first time in 52 years. Playing with 10 men for over 40 minutes can be like sailing across an ocean without GPS.
The fact that India managed it, kept the game at 1-1 in 60 minutes, and then won the shootout says a lot about the team. Not otherwise can you return to the Olympic podium after 41 years and stay there four years later.
But Fulton is only modest and practical, while always trying his best to hide the buoyancy of winning a bronze medal.
“We don’t have a lot of time to get up to speed. But we gained some great experience from the tournament (Paris Olympics) and we are looking forward to play China in the first game,” he said in a chat with Timesofindia.com before flying out for the ACT, which runs from September 8 to 17 at Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, in China.
India, the four time ACT winners and the defending champions, have taken 10 players of their Paris Olympics squad to the tournament.
“I think we are trying to get back to playing like we did in Paris, but we have a few changes,” said Fulton. “The main thing is we are the defending champions and we want to go and defend our title.”
Playmaker Hardik Singh, midfielder Shamsher Singh and strikers Lalit Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh have been rested from the squad captained by Harmanpreet Singh.
Junior India captain Uttam Singh, debutant Gurjot Singh, striker Araijeet Singh Hundal and midfielder Mohammad Raheel will be keenly watched as upcoming talent.
Among the above, Hundal, who has 13 senior India caps under his belt, provides the rare combination of a striker-cum-dragflicker. He was close to getting on the flight to Paris, but didn’t tick the box for off-the-ball running, which is where someone like Lalit pipped him.
(Araijeet Singh Hundal – Photo Source: X)
“We went with experience obviously (for the Olympics),” said Fulton, speaking about Hundal. “He is our younger striker, so this is his opportunity now, which is great for him. I don’t want to put any pressure on him with expectations. So let’s just let him play this tournament. Let’s see how he goes.”
A prominent name missing from India’s squad is goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who retired after the Paris Games. Filling those big shoes will be Krishan Pathak, who was Sreejesh’s understudy for a long time and now will guard the post as India’s first-choice custodian. Suraj Karkera, who has always been in the mix and has 43 senior India caps already, is the other goalkeeper in the squad.
Besides hosts China and India, last edition’s runners-up Malaysia, 2018 Asian Games champions Japan, two-time ACT winners Pakistan, and South Korea will be part of the six-team tournament that will be played in the round-robin league format. Teams finishing in the top four will qualify for the semifinals.
India’s encounters with traditional hockey rivals Pakistan are nowhere near being as competitive as they used to be until 7-8 years ago. What’s even unfortunate is the fact that results of late have shown little promise of revival for the four-time world champions. Still though, it remains the most sellable game in the tournament’s first stage.
Pakistan will get some confidence with 1994 World Cup winner and Olympic bronze medallist Tahir Zaman being appointed as the team’s head coach ahead of this tournament.
INDIA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit
Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad (VC), Manpreet Singh, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh
INDIA FIXTURES (IST timings)
September 8: vs China at 3:30 pm
September 9: vs Japan at 1:15 pm
September 10: Rest day
September 11: vs Malaysia at 1:15 pm
September 12: vs Korea Republic at 1:15 pm
September 13: Rest day
September 14: vs Pakistan at 1:15 pm
September 16: Semifinals
September 17: Final