Nobbs discontent despite good show

India may have launched their FIH Olympics Qualifiers in splendid style with a 15-1 crushing of Singapore, but coach Michael Nobbs said he was far from satisfied.
 

“We played a fantastic game today but I am far from satisfied,” Nobbs told press people after the high-octane display. “This is the kind of hockey I want to see from the Indians. We are not close to our peak yet, and I don’t want them to peak so early in the tournament.

“We want to peak at the right time. Having said that, we played a really fast and the forwards looked very sharp. We’ve been practicing a few patterns and I’m glad they executed it. We had nearly 25 hits at the goal considering we played to 70 percent of out potential.

“The start has been great and according to script. However, we are not willing to take slow down the intensity. We wish no respite and we will be as ruthless whether we play a top-ranked side or bottom-ranked side. Attack is the mantra and we’ll stick to it right throughout.”

Indian vice-captain Sardar Singh, who scored a brace, exuded confidence, saying that he is very happy with the overall performance. “The target was 19 goals; tad disappointed we fell short of the margin. However, we played brilliantly as a team today. The spirit was there and the understanding was awesome.

“Our ball snatching was good; could’ve have a done better in passing and trapping. We will be analising our videos and hope to correct them in the next match. Although we were playing Singapore, we never underestimated them and as you’ll saw there was no hint of complacency. They are a young squad and could prove dangerous. Glad that we never let them off the hook.”

Gurvinder Singh Chandi scored a hat-trick while Shivendra Singh and Danish Mujtaba scored a brace each for India.