Pro League: Indian men & women hockey teams set to take on Spain

BHUBANESWAR: Consistency will be key for the Indian men’s hockey team when they take on a lower-ranked Spain, while its women counterparts would look to carry on the momentum against same opposition during their respective FIH Pro League campaigns this weekend.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Indian men started their FIH Pro League campaign on a rousing note, beating France 5-0 before being shocked 2-5 by the Frenchmen in the return leg. Against South Africa, India registered identical 10-2 wins in the two matches.

Both the ties were played in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

But the result against world no.12 France in the second match of the two-leg tie was far from expectations from India, ranked fifth in the world.

The Indians were caught off guard and napping by the ever-improving Frenchmen in all aspects of the game in the second match, much to the surprise of the eight-time Olympic champions.

The mixed results in opening two Pro League ties in South Africa prompted a sharp response from Indian Olympic Association and FIH President Narinder Batra, who demanded an explanation for the setback and even met Hockey India officials and chief coach Graham Reid after their return to the country.

Considering that the pressure would be high on the coaching staff led by Reid and the players when they take on Spain and any adverse result in the upcoming matches could lead to severe consequences in a busy calendar year that includes Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games, a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Indians tested a two youngsters — dragflicker Sanjay and striker Abhishek — in South Africa but from the duo only the latter could retain his place in the squad named for Spain tie.

Striker Sukhjeet Singh is the new addition to the squad and the youngster would be thriving to make his presence felt on the turf.

Against Spain, the Indians would be looking to rectify the mistakes they committed in their first two matches. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side defence need to keep their structure intact when put under pressure, which was duly exploited by France in their second match.

If that was not enough, the Indians created numerous chances in the first four games but somewhere final finishing cost them dearly. To add to it, India need to make better use of penalty corners, their main strength, which was lacking in the initial games.

But going by form and world stature, India would start as favourites against Spain, which lost 1-6 and 2-3 against England in their opening double-leg tie.

Indian women look to continue winning momentum

With a rousing start to their Pro League campaign, the Indian women are confident of upsetting world no. 7 Spain in the upcoming two matches of the event, which they are treating as a perfect launch-pad to prepare the side for two key tournaments this year — the World Cup and the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Playing for the first time in the tournament, the Indian women beat China 7-1 and 2-1 in their opening two-leg tie in Muscat, Oman earlier this year.

India captain Savita said that playing against top teams in the FIH Pro League will be a fair assessment of their game ahead of an important 2022, which also has the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

“It will give us a fair idea about our strengths and weaknesses ahead of an important season,” Savita had said.

“The Pro League is an important tournament for the World Cup and Asian Games. We have already qualified for the World Cup but every match in the Pro League will give us an idea on the grey areas we need to work upon. The Asian Games is also there which is an Olympic qualifier.”

The Indian women’s team, which finished a historic fourth in the Tokyo Olympics, carried on their good show in the FIH Pro League but in world no.7 and current World Cup bronze-medallists Spain, a tough competitor awaits them in their first home outing in the double-leg tie at the Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday and Sunday.

“Spain is a very good side. They won the bronze medal in the last World Cup. So, it is important for us to keep the momentum going. We need to give our best in every match,” Savita said.

India are currently placed third in the FIH Pro League standings with six points from two games and the skipper said they will continue to play to their strengths.

“Attacking hockey and penalty corners are our strength and we will focus on that (against Spain),” said the ace goalkeeper.