Confident India aim to stay No 1 in Asian hockey
Eyes firmly set on retaining the numero uno status in the continent, favourites India face a tricky campaign-opener against Japan in the men’s Asia Cup hockey starting here on Wednesday. The Asia Cup will be the beginning of new phase in Indian hockey as it would be newly-appointed coach Sjoerd Marijne’s first test post the sacking of Roelant Oltmans.
It would be an arduous task for the 43-year-old Marijne to fill in the big shoes of Oltmans, who made a significant contribution to Indian hockey in his four-year tenure, lifting the Asian powerhouse from 12 to sixth in the world rankings.
Last edition’s runner-up India, led by midfielder Manpreet Singh, will be eyeing a perfect start to their campaign in Pool A which also features archrivals Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh. Pool B, meanwhile, consists of defending champions Korea, Malaysia, China and minnows Oman.
The opening match of a tournament always holds greater significance for any team and India too would be hoping for a positive start ahead of their clashes against Bangladesh and Pakistan on October 13 and 15 respectively.
“The opening match is always challenging because we need to get over early nervousness and find our rhythm. The team is upbeat and ready for the first challenge,” said skipper Manpreet on the eve of their opener.
For Manpreet and India, the Asia Cup is a chance to assert their supremacy in the continent. “We are aware that we go into this tournament as the highest-ranked team and we will aim to keep up the No.1 status,” the skipper has said.
The Indians last played Japan
DHAKA:
India (89.47%) Japan Matches
India have won all the 6 matches against Japan India beat Japan Dhaka, 1985
India beat Japan New Delhi, 1989 India beat Japan Hiroshima, 1994 India beat Japan Kuala Lampur, 1999 India beat Japan Chennai, 2007
India beat Japan Kuantan, 2009
TOTAL GOALS
10 Goals Draw in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year where they won the encounter 4-3.
But the Indians can ill-afford to take Japan lightly as the Japanese have shown in the past that they have the ability to play fastpaced hockey with good attacks.