‘Game is faster, Sardar failed to catch up’ India open vs Pak in Champions Trophy
Seems it’s ‘all over’ for former Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh. Hockey India’s high-performance director David John wants young legs with speed in the team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and India are moving towards that goal.
“Our emphasis is on young legs with speed as we aren’t a strong nation in terms of physical strength like Australia and Germany. So our emphasis is on fast hockey and youngsters are better suited to this,” David said when asked why Sardar was left out of the Commonwealth Games.
He refused to say whether Sardar should retire, but pointed out that in the Azlan Shah Trophy, the 31-year-old Sardar at times lacked speed and it created a problem for the team. India finished fifth among six teams at Azlan Shah under Sardar. “He (Sardar) still has good skills, but in the last 12-18 months the game has become faster and Sardar is not up to it. Much would depend on how we pick our core group of 24 and also a development group of 24 after the national championship here,” said John.
“Whether to retire or not is Sardar’s call. He is very sensible and very competitive. He has played hockey at a very high level and still wants to play at the top, which is quite difficult for him now,” he said, adding, “We have good young players in the midfield, and we would like to pick those youngsters, who could serve the game till 2020.”
Commenting on Manpreet Singh-led India team for the Commonwealth Games, starting April 4 at Gold Cost in Australia, John said that this was the best team picked. “This is the best combination we picked this year. Selection was purely based on their form. They are a confident lot,” he said, adding, “Everyone is fit, healthy and raring to go.”
John said the Asian Games was on top of the agenda of the Hockey India as a podium finish would give India direct entry to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “We have 8-9 big tournaments this year, but Asian Games is top. If we qualify for Tokyo, we will have two years to prepare.”
He also admitted that there were all possibilities of a change in the core group of 24 for the future events like Asian Games, Olympic qualifiers and the World Cup. “Players would keep on rotating from core group to development group so a healthy competition of performance would always be there between the players. There were a few good youngsters at the Azlan Shah tourney, and I would certainly like to give them a chance to play in big events in future.”
LUCKNOW:
The 2018 Champions Trophy hockey competition for men will start with the mouthwatering clash between traditional rivals India and Pakistan.
The international hockey federation (FIH) tournament will be held in Breda, the Netherlands, from June 23-July 1, 2018.
In opening day’s action, hosts and European champions the Netherlands will take on 2016 Olympic gold medallists Argentina; reigning Hockey World Cup, World League and Champions Trophy title holders Australia play Rio Olympic silver medallists Belgium while Asian champions India take on three-time Champions Trophy winners Pakistan. Hosts Netherlands, Argentina and Australia qualified for the 2018 Champions Trophy automatically whilst India, Pakistan and Belgium were invited by the FIH Executive Board.
TheChampionsTrophywillbe one of the last opportunities for these teams to play against one another competitively before the end of year Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 (November 28 to December 16).
NEW DELHI:
SCHEDULE: June 23: India vs Pakistan; Netherlands vs Argentina; Australia vs Belgium; June 24: India vs Argentina; Netherlands vs Belgium; Australia vs Pakistan; June 26: Argentina vs Belgium; Netherlands vs Pakistan; June 27: India vs Australia; June 28: Argentina vs Pakistan; India vs Belgium; Netherlands vs Australia; June 29: Belgium vs Pakistan; June 30: Argentina vs Australia; Netherlands vs India; July 1: 5th/6th place; 3rd/4th place; Final.