Thursday’s Junior Asia Cup triumph pushed India’s men’s hockey team to sole top spot with four titles and coach C.R. Kumar minced no words on how it was one of the motivations for the entire squad.
“We knew both India and Pakistan had three titles each. But Pakistan had won before 2000 and we have in recent times. For us winning has to be a priority all the time, it always adds to the confidence and we wanted to be on top. We are the leaders now and we want to always be leaders,” Kumar declared on Friday from Salalah.
Both Kumar and captain Uttam Singh reiterated that the team was always confident of playing the final against Pakistan. “Everyone knows the equation between India and Pakistan. So our games also are always very close and hard fought. I know what the pressure is like — I made my debut against Pakistan in the men’s Asia Cup — and tried to keep the team motivated, saying that pressure won’t help us win; performance will. For three quarters we were the better team.
“We had sessions preparing for the final against them even before the semifinals. We discussed our pool match (1-1), our shortcomings and their strengths — strong on the right side — learnt from it and worked on it. We scored 50 goals through the competition and conceded only four. We deserved to win,” said Uttam.
Pakistan did push hard, and the Indians admitted it was not an easy victory. “We tried to do some things differently, put early goals on the board and dominated. There was definitely pressure in the second half because there are some very skilful players in the Pakistan team but also because of our own mistakes, we gave away possession too quickly and the players also know it. But our strength was our discipline and we achieved the result we wanted,” Kumar explained.
Uttam admitted there was a lot to do in the next few months before the Junior World Cup. “Coach told us at half-time that 2-0 is no lead and we should not get defensive or lose possession. But both teams were tired in tough conditions and mistakes happened. At the same time, winning does not mean there is nothing to improve. We try things in practice that do not come off in games, we have to work more till the Junior World Cup”.
