India kick off campaign by taking on China in the right earnest after loss at Doha Asiad
CHENNAI: Still haunted by the stunning defeat in the Doha Asian Games, India will treat China with all seriousness and be keen to begin its campaign on a winning note when the two teams meet each other in the Asia Cup Hockey Tournament beginning Friday.
"There is a perception that our team regroup after a bad start and get stronger as the tournament progresses. It happened in the past.
"This is the third outing under my tenure as coach. We want to begin on a winning note and break the hoodoo,'' Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho said on Thursday after his team's practice session. Disagreeing with the view that the encounter would be a revenge match for India after they were stunned by China 2-3 in the Doha Asian Games, he said "no it's not a revenge match. China are a good side. We are not taking them lightly.
"These days, in international hockey, no team can be taken lightly. See how Belgium forced Germans into the Olympic qualifiers. Any team is capable of creating an upset," he added.
He said India would approaching the first match with all seriousness. "No doubt it's going to be a crucial match for us. We will approach it with all seriousness. A win will ease the pressure in the remaining matches."
The coach elaborated on the right strategies to counter the fast moving Chinese. "The Chinese are very fast in their moves. They are very strong in penalty corner conversions. We have our strategies to counter them. We have our own strong points, too. The team is well prepared for the event and there is no pressure on the boys."
Asked if the weather will have any effect on the players, the Indian coach said the players have acclimatised themselves after the eight day camp.
"They are here for the last eight days. It's going to be hot and humid.They should be able to make the maximum of the home advantage. I think we should be able to pull it off."
On concerns over penalty corner conversions in the absence of dragflicker Sandeep Singh, he said "we have enough replacements.The players are pushing to keep their places in the national side. Raghunath (penalty corner specialist) has proved his worth at the Azlan Shah Cup."
Indian captain Prabodh Tirkey said the team had good practice sessions in the camp. "We did some hard running. We have worked on the penalty corner conversions and tackling.China are a good side. We are well prepared to take on them."
