Indian silver's just what the doctor ordered: Cedric
Cedric D'Souza, former chief coach and
executive director of the Indian Hockey Federation,
hopes the junior Indian team's silver medal-winning performance in the Milton Keynes
World Cup will usher in a new era for the game in the country.
India lost the final to Australia 2-3.
"The juniors's second
place is exactly what the doctor ordered and it has
given the needed impetus to look forward with hope," the former Olympian said.
"The next crucial step is the transition from juniors
to seniors. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the IHF will
take this opportunity to clear the cobwebs and create a
uniform system throughout the country," D'Souza added.
In charge of spotting talent, he wanted a programme to be
carefully charted out where systematic
and professional training is imparted on a regular basis.
"Otherwise, this marvelous showing will just be a flash in
the pan," he warned.
"There are the
perennial problems -- our inconsistency, not capitalising
on chances in open field play and penalty corners as well as
permitting rivals to claw back," he pointed out. "But these flaws can
be ironed out if the IHF focuses on the 2000 Olympics and trains
some of these youngsters for the senior team
and grooms them into world beaters."
On Sunday evening, Australia vanquished the Indians 3-2 (half-time 2-1) to claim the sixth junior World Cup hockey title.
After left-winger Harbhajan Singh scored in the 16th minute, the Indians allowed the Aussies to ricochet back into contention with two goals late in the first half (Ben Taylor: 31st minute; Troy Elder, two minutes later).
The Indians -- who drew their group round clash with the Kangaroos despite being up 2-0 -- once again failed to deliver the knockout punch. Mathew Wells's 51st minute goal put the game virtually out of Indian reach. The Indians fought back bravely in the last 18 minutes of the game. Gurmail Singh scored five minutes from the close, but that was all.
Try as they did, the valiant Indians could not find the goal mouth in the dying moments of the contest -- this, after forcing two penalty corners in the last minute -- to give the Aussies, eternal favourites in this contest, their first-ever junior title.
The Indians dominated the match, but their fortune too went AWOL. Denied a clear penalty stroke in the second half when centre-forward Rajiv Mishra was deliberately brought down inside the circle, the Indian lads yielded ground to a team which capitalised on the few chances that came their way.
Of course, the umpiring was not solely responsible for the Indians taking the silver. Though they had more of the ball and the exchanges, the Indian errors, especially in midfield, proved expensive in the end. Twelve penalty corners were wasted!
Before the game, coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran shuffled his line-up -- playing right-half Saini in an inside position and moving centre-half Anwar Khan to inside-left.
The changes had little effect on the Aussies. They outpaced the Indians at will
-- and were dazzling when they ran with the ball.
After Harbhajan Singh scored, the Aussies attacked in waves.
Ponnappa stopped a penalty corner drive by Elders in the 18th minute. And just when it appeared India would keep its lead till half-time, the Aussies struck.
The first Aussie goal came after Ponnappa blocked an Elder reverse flick. The rebound went to Adam Commens who pushed the ball to Taylor. Left free at the top of the circle, the forward sent the ball crashing into the net.
Two minutes from half-time, the Aussies drove home the advantage. Elder found the net after Taylor set up the goal.
The Aussie defence kept the aggressive Mishra in check after the second whistle. Then umpire Wolter ignored a rising free-hit from Chopping -- leading to an infringement inside the circle -- and awarded a penalty corner, which Wells gleefully converted.
Desperate, the Indians went flat out, but their poor drill at penalty corners cost them the match. They forced as many as 12 penalty corners, two of them in the last minute, and could convert just one through Gurmail Singh who had muffed the previous eight corners.
After the match, hundreds of Indian supporters, who had travelled from all over England and the Continent for the final, abused the two umpires. Tight security, however, kept the referees away from harm.
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