Slow and steady
QUIET CONFIDENCE India’s strong showing in major events of late gives coach Oltmans hope that the team will make an impression
NEW DELHI: It’s a hot and humid morning, and most of the regulars at the National Stadium have finished their day’s regimen.
The sun’s glare makes one look for shade, but seeing the ground staff move towards the main field gives the impression that work remains to be done. “Hamaare hockey team ka practice hai abhi (Our hockey team is yet to practice),” says a ground staff.
Chief national coach Roelant Oltmans descends with the Riobound team. “Get ready,” the shrill voice rings out in the empty stadium.
After a 10-15 minute warm-up, the boys get down to a series of high-intensity shuttle runs with short breaks. At the end of the session, everyone is gasping for breath.
“The drills are part of yo-yo fitness training, it’s challenging,” says Oltmans, pointing to the players lying flat with hands sideways.
Since January, every training session has been monitored to evaluate the players’ progress in the camp.
The results, says the Dutchman, have been encouraging. “As per the yo-yo system, 20 points are considered good. But the members of the team have an average of 21. More than 10 players have 23.2 points.”
This gives Oltmans an opportunity to focus on other areas. “Since fitness is not a concern anymore, we have been exploring other areas that would give us an edge over the others at Rio,” he says. With hockey tipped to be one of India’s medal hopes at the Olympics, HT looks at some of the key members of men and women squads. MIDFIELDER
The 24-year-old Punjab player has made rapid strides in the senior team, and is tipped to step into Sardar Singh’s shoes, the most seasoned player in the national side. Born in Mithapur village in Jalandhar, Manpreet led the team at the 2013 Junior World Cup in New Delhi. FORWARD
The 24-year-old forward’s overall performance at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Germany helped India win the bronze medal. With five goals to her credit, she emerged the top scorer of the event. Till date, she has over 30 goals from 130 international matches.
Perhaps this could be one of the reasons why India were able to test world champions Australia in the final of the Champions Trophy in London.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME Improved fitness is just one component of the training system. “To win matches at the world level, marked improvement is needed in different fields. Training is meaningless if the players can’t control the ball at high speed,” said Oltmans.
To inculcate this, the support staff have designed special methods. After fitness drills, the focus shifts to shooting practice inside the circle. The drills are carried out at high intensity in different circumstances to test reflexes under pressure.
The coach has an answer to his critics. He was modest about the silver at the Champions Trophy, saying it is part of the build-up. He is defensive when asked about the team’s performance in the six-nation tournament at Valencia, Spain.
“People don’t understand that peaking at the right time is important. Our target is to keep our best for the Olympics. Results in other tournaments don’t concern me much as a coach. It’s an opportunity to understand the psyche of the players.”
Since last year, the team has been making an impression in major tournaments, including the bronze at the World Hockey League Finals at Raipur. “This shows the team is on the right path. That we have been successful in earning penalty corners shows the players are GOALKEEPER/CAPTAIN
The skipper is known as the wall for his skills under the bar. He keeps calm under pressure, and it showed in the final of the Incheon Asian Games, where India emerged winners and qualified for the Rio Olympics. The 28-year-old made his international debut in 2006, and has featured in 156 matches. Hockey will be played from August 6-19 at Deodoro Olympic Park in Rio De Janeiro.The 12 participating nations have been divided into two pools. Top four teams will enter the quarterfinals or knock out stage.
AUGUST 6: India vs Ireland AUGUST 8: India vs Germany AUGUST 9: India vs Argentina AUGUST 11: India vs Netherlands
AUGUST 12: India vs Canada AUGUST 14: Quarterfinals AUGUST 16: Semifinals AUGUST 18: Medal round improving. Fitness without proper execution doesn’t make sense in modern hockey.”
Language is an area that is a concern for the Dutchman.
The players are improving, but at times they need someone like Tushar Kandekar, a member of the coaching staff, to clarify things. “It does make my life a bit easy. It’s also important for me to understand the players.”
The physical parameters of the team will be evaluated again before the Olympics.
Mental training has helped the team gel, and reflects on the field. Positive results have given a fillip to the mindset, and the players know on a day they can score over teams like Australia and Germany. “The players are eager to perform,” says Oltmans before heading to the team bus. MIDFIELDER
There is no doubt about his influence on the team, as he has 247 international matches under his belt. Sardar made his debut in the senior side in
2006, and the presence of the 29-year
-old midfielder was the skipper when the team won gold at the 2014
Incheon Asian
Games. FORWARD
A key member, she is the one to watch out for. A veteran of 154 internationals, Rani adds weight to the forward line with her deft stickwork. The 21-year-old hails from Shahabad in Haryana. In 2010, Rani made the senior World Cup team at 15, and bagged the best young player of the tournament award.
POOL B: ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, GREAT BRITAIN, USA,
JAPAN, INDIA
AUGUST 7: India vs Japan AUGUST 8: India vs Great Britain
AUGUST 10: India vs Australia AUGUST 11: India vs USA AUGUST 13: India vs Argentina AUGUST 15: Quarterfinals AUGUST: Semifinals
AUGUST 19: Medal round
Recently, India created history by reaching the Champions Trophy final.
I have played the Champions Trophy four times and we were DHANRAJ PILLAY, on the team’s chances at Rio
so close to a medal many times.
I remember the 2002 and 2004 editions; we beat Pakistan 4-2 and 7-4, but in the semifinal and the last match we stumbled. This NEW DELHI:
STEMMING THE ROT
After Hawgood took over he felt the core of the team had stagnated and some of the players had to be released to allow the team to evolve.
“We had the same people and we gave them another go and another go. Then you sit down and you think ‘where is the evolvement of this team’? So some players had to be cycled in and cycled out,” said Hawgood.
FOCUSED
“After my first tour to Ireland we focused on the junior World Cup. We said in 4-8 years this group will look different so why don’t we make it different now and move on,” said Hawgood.
The junior-senior divide had to be checked as well. “I had to sit down and say ‘look I can’t have a group where a senior asks a junior to do this… it is not their job. Their job is to train. What we now have developed is a culture that everyone has a process that they need to do and don’t need to interfere with it,” he said.
Togetherness will be the key at Rio, which will be the women’s first appearance after a gap a 36 years. The expectations are realistic, and planning is already on for Tokyo (2020 Olympics).
At the Olympic Village, the dining hall is open 24x7 and you can eat whatever you feel like. This is my experience that players reach there a week or 10 days before and indulge themselves, and gain weight Recently, India created history by reaching the Champions Trophy final. I have played the Champions Trophy four times and we were so close to a medal many times.