Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Indian Captain Upbeat Following Award From President

By M. Santhiran NEW DELHI, April 3 (Bernama) -- Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh is upbeat to deliver his best game ever at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia after having received one of the highest civilian awards from Indian president Pranab Mukherjee recently. The 28-year-old player, who will be taking part in the tournament for the fourth time in his playing career with the national team since 2006, said he wanted to give back something "special" to hockey fans in Malaysia and back home from the eight-day tournament which starts in Ipoh on Sunday. "The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is one of the prestigious tournaments and we (the Indian team) always look forward to taking part in the cup. "It's something like second home for us whenever we play in Malaysia; the crowd is usually amazing, as though you are playing on your own turf," Sardar Singh told Bernama in an interview here. Sardar Singh also paid tribute to the late Sultan Azlan Shah for the ruler's contribution to hockey, not only in Malaysia but also in the rest of the world. "He was a great man and did a lot for hockey and we (India) committed (ourselves) to this tournament by announcing our best 18 players," said the deputy superintendent of police with the Haryana State police. Sardar Singh and the former captain for the Indian women's team, Saba Anjum, on Monday received one of the most prestigious national honours, the 'Padma Shri Award', from Pranab at a glittering ceremony. Sardar Singh was captain of the Indian gold medal winning team at the Incheon Asian Games last year. India defeated their arch rivals Pakistan in the final. On the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament, the attacking midfielder said the team was upbeat and confident under new chief coach Paul van Ass of the Netherlands. "In the training session, he (van Ass) taught us to keep working on our strengths. He highlighted our strengths and guided us on how to improve on our weaknesses," he said. 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. "He has given emphasis to improving oneself technically and this helped us to feel more confident," said Sadar Singh. He said the team was positive of giving a tough time to their opponents. On the Malaysian team, Sadar Singh said Malaysia played good hockey and were difficult to beat whenever they played on home ground. "Malaysia has some good young and skillful players. They are good in counter attacks," he said. India's first match, on April 5, is against South Korea. -- BERNAMA