The final 4 days have been fairly mentally strenuous for the Indian hockey staff. The stress they have been underneath, the painful exit from the World Cup at dwelling, the tough questions requested of them – it has been powerful to take for the Harmanpreet Singh-led outfit.
However the 8-0 hammering of Japan has helped soothe issues a bit. The excellent victory with out conceding a aim towards the Asian Video games gold medallists on Thursday evening upped the arrogance, bringing a smile again on the faces of the staff that misplaced to New Zealand within the crossovers on Sunday.
“The primary 24 hours after the defeat to New Zealand was powerful to recover from. It has been a tricky three days. There was a combination of plenty of emotions – disappointment and frustration that we have let folks down and all these types of issues. However what I used to be happy with is that we tried to maintain the deal with these subsequent two video games. It is solely half the job accomplished in the intervening time,” stated India chief coach Graham Reid.
Having gained the 9-16 classification playoff, the hosts will now face South Africa within the 9-12 place match in Rourkela on Saturday. If India win they are going to end both ninth or tenth. In the event that they lose, eleventh or twelfth. Twelfth is the worst end for India at London 1986 when India ended final.
“It is actually good that we might put some context on the truth that there’s the Asian Video games developing later within the yr and we’ll be enjoying Japan once more at that time. So, it was necessary to carry out. But in addition only for our delight. That was the primary matter of dialogue – we would have liked to do it for ourselves.”
There was quite a lot of chatter about Reid’s future within the Indian setup after the defeat to New Zealand. The Australian joined the setup in April 2019 together with his spotlight coming when he guided India to their first Olympic medal in 41 years in Tokyo. However ends in tournaments have wavered since then.
“I’ve signed a contract via to Paris (2024 Olympics). However we’ll be reviewing I assume on the finish of this (World Cup). However for now, our subsequent recreation is South Africa. That’s what I am specializing in,” stated Reid.
The state of affairs might be a bit difficult if Reid leaves or is requested to with the Asian Video games coming in September and the Paris Olympics subsequent yr. A brand new coach coming in so late earlier than necessary multi-disciplinary occasions might be dangerous.
Hockey India (HI) president Dilip Tirkey earlier within the week mentioned the attainable appointment of a psychological conditioning coach for the staff. Most high groups world wide have sports activities psychologists travelling with the groups, aiding the gamers at any time when in want.
“The dialogue has come up earlier than. We’ve entry to sports activities psychologists inside SAI (Sports activities Authority of India) however it is a bit totally different once they’re working inside your staff atmosphere. It is a massive factor to have one connected to your staff after which have belief inside the group. I would like to have the ability to really feel belief within the teaching group so it is not a factor that is taken frivolously,” stated Reid.
“We have been making progress on the psychological toughness facet. However the dwelling World Cup does convey that further stress. Generally it’s tough to course of. I additionally wanted to really feel snug that we are able to belief that individual and it must be the correct individual. They’re typically tough to decide on and it must be an Indian.”
There has additionally been quite a lot of speak concerning the bench energy of the Indian staff, and whether or not it’s ok to match the very best on the earth. High groups like Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany – the 4 semi-finalists right here – have a membership tradition the place gamers normally play matches towards the very best on the earth and are in form due to common matches.
In India, nonetheless, there isn’t a membership tradition with the highest gamers attending nationwide camps for a lot of the yr, enjoying apply video games towards one another. After they get day without work, they usually play home tournaments for his or her departments whose stage is manner off the worldwide requirements.
“We want a contest that’s nearer to worldwide competitors. We had Hockey India League (HIL) earlier than. That was actually good. However it’s very tough to simply create a membership tradition out of nothing. That is the issue. It ends being a tough process whereas one thing like HIL is maybe a bit bit simpler. You have got the financial elements behind all that. I do not assume there’s anybody who wouldn’t like to see HIL again. Possibly it must be designed from scratch,” concluded Reid.