Maharashtra Herald, July 7, 2007BY SUHRID BARUA
suhridb@sakalherald.com
Pune: There are times when a team dominates a game throughout, but yet ends up on the losing side. That’s what befell the Indian hockey team when they foozled twelve penalty corners against Argentina to go down 1-2 in a crunch league tie of the just-concluded Champions Challenge Cup hockey tourney in Boom, Belgium. It effectively spoilt whatever slender hopes India nourished of sealing a spot in next year’s Champions Trophy after the opening game loss to New Zealand.
So has the malaise of poor penalty corners conversions has once again started to haunt the side? National coach Joaquim Carvalho begs to differ. “Our penalty corner conversions in the Argentina game was a big let-down. It cost us dearly. But it’s not fair to say that our performance from the short corners was disappointing overall. I though Dilip (Tirkey) and Sandeep (Singh) fared pretty well in the other games,” Carvalho told the Herald.
Carvalho, who was a member of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics team, has comforting words for comeback lad Sandeep Singh. “Sandeep did whatever was expected of him. He’s a long road ahead of him. He would be even better served if he makes an effort to be more innovative while taking the corners,” he pointed out.
He was of the firm opinion that the Boom tourney was a massive learning curve for his young side. “The conditions were tougher than what we encountered in Kuala Lumpur during the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament. The wet, chilly conditions posed a quite challenge for our boys and they came out with flying colours,” he said with a ring of satisfaction.
Veteran Dhanraj Pillai recently went on record saying that age shouldn’t be a criterion for national selection and that he should not be cold-shouldered for good. So what’s his take on that? “Let him (Dhanraj) talk to me. He should know better whether he’s good enough to play for the country. If he thinks he has it in him to don the Indian colours, that’s fine. I don’t think age should be an impediment in selection matters and Dhanraj is justified in thinking that way,” Carvalho said, carefully choosing his words.
suhridb@sakalherald.com
Pune: There are times when a team dominates a game throughout, but yet ends up on the losing side. That’s what befell the Indian hockey team when they foozled twelve penalty corners against Argentina to go down 1-2 in a crunch league tie of the just-concluded Champions Challenge Cup hockey tourney in Boom, Belgium. It effectively spoilt whatever slender hopes India nourished of sealing a spot in next year’s Champions Trophy after the opening game loss to New Zealand.
So has the malaise of poor penalty corners conversions has once again started to haunt the side? National coach Joaquim Carvalho begs to differ. “Our penalty corner conversions in the Argentina game was a big let-down. It cost us dearly. But it’s not fair to say that our performance from the short corners was disappointing overall. I though Dilip (Tirkey) and Sandeep (Singh) fared pretty well in the other games,” Carvalho told the Herald.
Carvalho, who was a member of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics team, has comforting words for comeback lad Sandeep Singh. “Sandeep did whatever was expected of him. He’s a long road ahead of him. He would be even better served if he makes an effort to be more innovative while taking the corners,” he pointed out.
He was of the firm opinion that the Boom tourney was a massive learning curve for his young side. “The conditions were tougher than what we encountered in Kuala Lumpur during the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament. The wet, chilly conditions posed a quite challenge for our boys and they came out with flying colours,” he said with a ring of satisfaction.
Veteran Dhanraj Pillai recently went on record saying that age shouldn’t be a criterion for national selection and that he should not be cold-shouldered for good. So what’s his take on that? “Let him (Dhanraj) talk to me. He should know better whether he’s good enough to play for the country. If he thinks he has it in him to don the Indian colours, that’s fine. I don’t think age should be an impediment in selection matters and Dhanraj is justified in thinking that way,” Carvalho said, carefully choosing his words.
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