Now, India ready to challenge Canada and Pakistan

The Indian men’s hockey team got over an early setback to register an impressive 4-1 win against Scotland with back-to-back goals in the third quarter.

It was the kind of start India were aiming for at the World League Semi Final here which began on Thursday.

In their next matches in Pool B, India will face a determined Canada and the ever-unpredictable Pakistan in what promises to be high voltage games on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

While India has had a fair record against Canada, having won their league stage matches in 2015 and 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a score of 5-3 and 3-1 respectively, India drew a crucial match against them at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Though the team is ranked below us, we don’t want to take them lightly. They can come up with a good game and hence it is important for us to stick to the roles assigned by our coach and execute them as planned,” Indian skipper Manpreet Singh said on Friday.

India bounced back into the game against Scotland in the third quarter after going goalless in the first two quarters. A ‘peptalk’ by chief coach Roelant Oltmans during the ten-minute break at half-time changed the course of the match for India.

It was goals by Ramandeep Singh (31’, 34’), Akashdeep Singh (40’) and Harmanpreet Singh (42’) that scripted India’s victory.

“We knew we didn’t start well. But coach gave us that confidence during the break saying there’s still 30 minutes to go and nothing is lost yet. He asked us to bring more energy and aggression into our game.”

On Sunday, India will take on its traditional rival Pakistan against whom the team has enjoyed success in the recent past.

“We always look at Pakistan as just another team and we always look at earning those three points from the match to advance in the league stage. They are a good side, but we have had a good start to the tournament. The idea will be to stick to the plans coach draws up before the match.”