Focus on young guns as game seeks revival

Ace drag-flicker Sandeep pulls out

With the Indian hockey team’s embarrassing display at the London Olympics still fresh in memory, time has come to focus on setting new strategies that could revive the national game and set it on the right road.

The first step towards that goal will come when 36 teams battle it out for the top prize in the second Hockey India Senior National men’s championship which begins at the KSHA stadium and the Madras Engineer Group & Centre grounds here on Sunday.

The profile of hockey is at an all-time low after London 2012, where the eight-time champions lost all their matches and ended up at the bottom of the 12-team competition.

In such a context, it would be ideal to start the process of building a squad with a long-term perspective and Senior Nationals offer that chance, with finding fresh talent being the main goal.

As such, Hockey India selectors and government observers will keep a close watch on the players here, with the Champions Trophy in Melbourne (December 1-9) and the second Asian Champions Trophy in Doha (November-December) being the upcoming tournaments for the national team.

A mix of promising youngsters and the stalwarts of Indian hockey will be in action in the 10-day meet which concludes on October 2. Defending champions Haryana will be fancying their chances along with Punjab, Air India, Services and hosts Karnataka.

Haryana will have in their ranks midfield maestro Sardar Singh but they suffered a setback with ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh opting out of the meet citing illness.

“Sandeep has typhoid, so he will not be playing here. Gagandeep Singh will be his replacement,” said Haryana coach Sandeep Sangwan.

Karnataka, who lost to Haryana 1-2 in last year’s final in Bhopal, will bank on penalty corner specialist and skipper VR Raghunath and last year’s player of the tournament SK Uthappa. Two other leading Karnataka players, SV Sunil and Ignace Tirkey, will be turning out for Services.

However, the hosts will not be short on experience with nine players from the Bhopal edition part of the current team.

“We have a very good mix of youth and experience. We have been training for the past two weeks and hope to put up a strong performance here,” said coach Kishore Kumar Biddaiah.

Karnataka, who are drawn in Group B along with Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh, will face Himachal Pradesh in their opening encounter on Tuesday. “We have the resources to go all the way to the final. But we are not taking any opponent lightly. Our first aim is to reach the knockout stage,” said the 39-year-old. As per the format, only the eight group-toppers move into the knockout quarterfinals.

New rules

The tournament will also introduce a couple of rules set to be implemented by the International Hockey Federation from January 1, 2013. The rule changes are regarding the own goal and dead ball situation. Under the rule, now a goal can be scored after the ball is touched in the circle by either an attacker or a defender. Regarding the procedures of taking a free-hit, the new rule says the ball can be raised directly and intentionally from a free hit using a push, flick or scoop action so long as the action is safe.

Karnataka squad: Tarun Thammanna, Jagdeep Dayal, Raghunath VR (captain), Bipin Bopaiah, Darshan DM, Rafeeq, Vikram Kanth (vice-captain), Aiyappa MB, Somanna CK, Nikin Thimmaiah, Nitin Thimmaiah, Mohan Muthanna, Thimmanna PL, Uthappa SK, Somanna KM, Pundlik Bellary, Mudappa MK, Shankar Patil. Coach: Kishore Kumar Biddaiah.

Karnataka’s fixtures (at KSHA stadium): vs Himachal Pradesh (Sep 25, 4.00pm); vs Mizoram (Sep 26, 2.30pm); vs Delhi (Sep 28, 4.00pm); vs Andhra Pradesh (Sep 29, 4.00pm).

Groupings

* Pool ‘A’: Haryana, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Bengal, Hockey Bhopal.
* Pool ‘B’: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram.
* Pool ‘C’: Punjab, Services, Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh.
* Pool ‘D’: Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Sashastra Seema Bal.
* Pool ‘E’: Air India, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Nagaland.
* Pool ‘F’: Indian Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tripura.
* Pool ‘G’: Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat.
* Pool ‘H’: Bihar, Combined Universities, Manipur, Andaman & Nicobar.