Misc. news about Indian hockey

[rajitghosh]

Certain things are working in India's favour.

60 minutes matches against 70
Breaks after 15 min
Rolling substitution

So Indians don't face any shortcoming on stamina. Overall play has improved. Penalty corner conversion is better.

[prasen9]

Ah, thanks but these have been there for a while. I think the quarters started in 2014 and the rolling substitutions have been there since 1992. That turns the tide a bit because now skill has become a bit more important and we can have specialists come in and leave and do not need "all-rounders". Helps with the fitness/stamina front. Generally, when a match becomes more about skills and less about fitness, it becomes better to watch. That explains the not collapsing in the end.

There are also time-outs for 40 seconds for penalty corners and after goals. Format changes So, the actual times may not have been reduced that much but the breaks help rehydrate and the coaches to come in with strategy and reminders that may help our players to remember things and be mentally strong and not panic at the end.

[sameerph]

With pretty much same team which played against us, Germany beat Netherlands 4-2 and 3-1 in 2 pro League matches over the weekend. That shows how good we were in putting up that performance against Germany.

Overall, it does look like we are now pretty close to top 6 teams in the world who all seem close in terms of ability. Can we take it up a notch now and get our first ever podium finish at Olympics after 40 years ?

[jayakris]

Can we take it up a notch now and get our first ever podium finish at Olympics after 40 years ?

Yes. I approve India to do that

[PKBasu]

That podium finish (gold) at Moscow in 1980 (41 years ago) has an asterisk attached to it, as Germany, Holland, Australia and Pakistan were missing. As far as I'm concerned, we are looking for our first Olympic hockey medal since 1972 (the last hockey Olympics played on natural grass 49 years ago), and we WILL get it. Let us go for the gold now! (Beating Germany and Britain on their home grounds is a rare and wonderful achievement, although the match against Britain was in Antwerp). I wonder why we didn't play Belgium, although the Indian team were in Belgium!

[arjun2761]

I suspect Belgium was afraid that we would expose them as fake #1.

[jayakris]

That podium finish (gold) at Moscow in 1980 (41 years ago) has an asterisk attached to it, as Germany, Holland, Australia and Pakistan were missing. As far as I'm concerned, we are looking for our first Olympic hockey medal since 1972 (the last hockey Olympics played on natural grass 49 years ago)

Same here because I even have some vague memory as a 9 year old, of our getting that medal in 72. That was the last real medal we have. Almost half a century ago. I am quite a sure that we would not have got a Gold and most probably not even a bronze in 1980 if all the teams were there. But the 1980 team was probably the last team that could have got a bronze if everything went right. Shahid, Zafar, Merwyn, Somayya, etc.

[srini]

The German team which lost 6-1 and drawn next 1-1 with us now beat Argentina 3-2 and 3-0 in Pro league matches on Apr 3rd,4th. So seems Argentina are showing steady decline after their Olympics gold medal run in 2016.Our matches with Argentina are scheduled for Apr 10th,11th.

[srini]

India won the 1st practice match with Argentina 4-3. Considering our dominance in recent times this thin margin is a sloppy performance

[arjun2761]

It's interesting that we are practicing with our opponents. Presumably, both teams would play a basic game in order to not give away any tendencies especially on penalty corners etc.

[PKBasu]

Great to see the string of victories continue against the reigning Olympic champions. I hope Team India can repeat (or better) this performance on 10th and 11th April in the Pro League hockey.

[srini]

Unable exude the same level of optimism that's trademark of PKB. We did worse in today's practice match by drawing 4-4, and i can see us losing when actual matches happen on 10th,11th...obviously Olympics are around the corner right? we can expect further dip in form as we approach the time of group stage matches in July.

[sameerph]

Argentina is ranked just 1 place below us at 6th in the world rankings. So, do not think 4-3 win and a 4-4 draw against them at their home needs to be considered as bad performance by any means. Also these are practice matches where neither side would revealed their full strategies.

Lets us wait for the official matches on Saturday and Sunday before deciding if we are doing better or worse than expected.

[srini]

If we consider Argentina is reigning Olympics champion, then we have performed way above our perceived standing. But the point is why and how other teams are able to take their performances several notches above and ours takes a dip at same time as we approach Olympics. That's what i worry about. Hopefully my concerns will prove wrong and we win in Pro league matches with Arg and then the matches coming up in May with GB, Spain, Germany and NZ. What ever happens one thing for sure, our true standing can be ascertained before Olympics itself this time around with so many Pro league matches right before Olympics!

[prasen9]

Good teams would try to peak for the Olympics. I would not read much into the practice matches. But, yes, the pro league matches should mean something. Also, Argentina should be taken to be what their current ranking is, i.e., #6. Olympic champion more than 4 years ago matters little at this point.