Indian Team Adopts More Attacking Game For Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

By M. Santhiran NEW DELHI, April 3 (Bernama) -- Hockey fans can expect to see a much-rejuvenated Indian men's hockey team at the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia, promising a more attacking game under their new chief coach Paul van Ass. For van Ass, who secured a silver medal for the Dutch national team at the 2012 London Olympics, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh from April 5 to 12 will be the first major test in preparing the Indian team which has already qualified for next year's Rio Olympics. The 54-year-old van Ass has been working with the Indian team for the past two weeks after taking over the hot seat following the acrimonious departure of Australian Terry Walsh. When met at the Major Dhyan Stadium here Wednesday evening prior to the last training session of the Indian national team, van Ass told Bernama the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was an important tournament because his players would be playing with some teams ranked much higher than India. He was slowly trying to understand and analyse the Indian style of play, he said, adding that the team had its strengths and weaknesses. "I have been spending a good amount of time with the team and I understand the team more each day," said van Ass, who was evidently a little uncomfortable with the New Delhi hot weather. Asked which specific area he has been working on with the players, van Ass explained that each player on average kept the ball about two minutes and he has been working on what they would have to do for the remaining 58 minutes of the game. "Positioning of players is key in hockey, not only focusing on your attack but also defending in numbers," he said. He said the team was very much prepared for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and would put pressure on the opponents in each match and play all matches with the same intensity. "We are looking forward to the tournament in Malaysia," he said, but declined to set any target for the team in the tournament. Meanwhile, High Performance director Roelant Othmans, who is also a Dutch national, said there was room for improvement for the team though they secured the gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games in South Korea last year. Othmans stressed that the Indian players had the skills and speed but still lacked mental strength and strategy, especially when facing opponents ranked higher. He lamented that there were only 50 Astroturf pitches in India compared with 900 in Holland. He said only five pitches were well maintained in New Delhi. "Sometimes, we face the problem of getting a pool of many players to choose from," said Othmans. According to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), India ranks nine compared to Australia (1), South Korea (8), New Zealand (9), Malaysia (12) and Canada (15), the other countries participating in the tournament. India's first match, on April 5, is against South Korea. The team leaves for Malaysia late Thursday evening. -- BERNAMA