Bring it on, roars young India
FIRST STEP As India kick off their campaign against South Africa, they face the challenge of living up to home expectations
Hockey is the buzzword in the Odisha capital. At every corner, you see some sign of the World Cup, which is set to enthral the public here from Wednesday to December 16.
The hype, promotion and buildup over, it’s business time as the 14th edition of the event is set to commence with two Pool C games on Wednesday --- Belgium vs Canada followed by the muchanticipated India vs South Africa.
No matter what the players say, the pressure of playing a World Cup opener — that too in front of the home crowd in a place known as the cradle of hockey — will be immense on the young Indian team whose average age is 23.5, the lowest in the event.
“I enjoy pressure. I don’t know the outcome, but these coming three weeks are going to be the best moments of my career,” says coach Harendra Singh who two years back led India to unexpected glory at the junior World Cup in Lucknow.
“We understand the first match is important. It releases 40-50% of the pressure. We want full points from the match. But for points, we cannot sacrifice the basics of hockey, the strategy.”
Though India have a 25-8 record against them, South Africa are an unknown entity, with India having last faced them at the 2014 Glasgow CWG where India won 5-2.
“We are planning to upset a lot of people here. We want to surprise them (India),” said South Africa coach Mark Hopkins.
Manpreet Singh and Co knows that the South Africans play rough, but they are ready. “Their strikers will try to break us. But we have strategies in place. We want to think ahead of our opponents,” said Harendra.
Much has been written about the historic night in Kuala Lumpur 43 years ago (India’s only gold at the World Cup), but a realist knows that an encore will be nothing short of a miracle, despite the advantages of playing at home for the third time after 1982 Mumbai and 2010 New Delhi.
On the other hand, Belgium have more than a chance of bagging this edition of the World Cup. From not qualifying for the 2010 World Cup to fifth in 2014, the Red Lions have come a long way to be ranked No.3. They reached the zenith when they claimed silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics followed by silver at the 2017 European Championships. They will be up against Canada in the first game, followed by India’s game.
India’s topsy-turvy ride in 2018 is behind them. With the turmoil behind them, Manpreet’s team has forgotten the past and is focused on what lies ahead.
The last time the World Cup was held in India, albeit a junior one, the hosts won under the same coach with seven players of the current squad. Having already tasted success, the youngsters are hungry for more.