Poles confident of good show
India are the favourites and our target is to reach final, says coach
Of all the teams participating in the men's hockey Olympic qualifiers, it is Poland that India feel a little wary of. The team had their first practice session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Monday and announced their intentions of reaching nothing short of a final.
With their country in the grip of winter, the team had a training camp in Chile and captain Dariusz Rachwalski said his players were ready for the competition.
“Champions Challenge in December was the start of our preparations, we worked on the physical aspects during the camp in Chile. We are ready for the tournament. At the moment we are focussing on the first match,” Rachwalski said. “We have a mix of youth and experience and we hope to rise upto the challenge of other teams.”
Their Dutch coach Bas Dirks, too, is satisfied with his team's preparations and called India the favourites. “We have had a good preparation. India are favourites in ranking. We are like France and Canada, who are looking to be in the final. But it is going to be very tough,” Dirks said.
“India is a very strong team. We saw them during the Champions Challenge and a lot of those 16 players are there in the team while we have some new players. India's new players are also very good in technique and they are very good with their penalty corner conversions too.”
Dirks said the team was working hard to qualify as it will give a boost to hockey back home. “We do not have much following at home unlike India where hockey is a popular sport. But qualifying is important for us as it will help to raise the profile of the game,” Dirk said.
“We are analysing how the other teams are playing. France, Italy and India are the only teams we have played against.”
Meanwhile, Italy's men’s team chose to be realistic about their chances and admitted they will be content to fight for the third-fourth place in the Olympic qualifiers.
Coach Roberto Da Gai said the team comprised mostly of students or working professionals, who train only thrice a week. “We do not have professional players. We are 28th-ranked and we have only Singapore below us,” Da Gai said.
The team had to practice indoors because of harsh winters. Italy has never qualified for Olympics and the coach said field hockey does not enjoy much popularity.
Captain Jacopo Lunetta pointed at lack of international participation of the national team.
“I have been with the national team since the last 10 years but I have only 52 international caps,” Lunetta, 31, said. “But we are excited to play in India. I have been following India since I was a child. Playing with other teams will be a big experience for us and we hope to put up a good show.”
