Indian women’s hockey team coach Harendra Singh said on Friday that his side has targeted the upcoming Asia Cup as the perfect time to peak physically with eyes on qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
“Peaking physically in the correct phase of the tournament is very important. If players peak early, then the chances of injuries get higher. If you ask me now, I think our team is 70-80 per cent fit. We don’t need to peak now, we have selected the upcoming Asia Cup for that,” Harendra told reporters on the eve of India’s match against Australia in the FIH Pro League.
India’s European leg of the ongoing tournament will take place between June 14 and 29 where it plays Australia (June 14 and 15 in London), Argentina (June 17 and 18 in London), Belgium (June 21 and 22 in Antwerp), and China (June 28 and 29 in Berlin) twice.
Belgium and the Netherlands have already secured their berths for the 2026 World Cup by being joint-hosts. For India, which is currently placed sixth in the nine-team league table, this increases its chances of qualification ahead of the European leg of the season.
However, Harendra maintained that no pressure will be applied on the players to attain the World Cup spot in this window, as it may affect their natural game.
The coach also revealed that Udita (Duhan), Nikki (Pradhan) and Sangita (Kumari) are in rehab and are fully fit. If needed, they could be called up.
Lessons from Australia
India toured Australia between April and May and played five matches; three against Australia A and two against Australia. India managed to win just one match, which ended with a 1-0 scoreline.
Lessons learnt from the tour Down Under are many, according to coach Harendra. The matches have helped the side understand that it needs to be more alert, scan with peripheral vision, and play fast hockey in the Pro League.
“Australia played with a full press. We learnt how to come out of something like that, how to stretch our opponent with counter control. We have to play stick-to-stick hockey because if you try to run with the ball, they will definitely chase you.
“Two departments we want to focus on are goalkeeping and drag-flicking. Before our European leg, I sent Deepika and Manisha to train with Toon Siepmann (drag flick coach) for a 10-day camp. Taeke Taekema is already working with us. We also have roped in goalkeeping coach Simon Zijp,” he said.
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In the Pro League, India has the second-lowest goals tally (13). Moreover, it has had the second-lowest penalty corner (PC) conversion rate (10.87) so far, and the lowest when it comes to circle penetrations (72). According to the coach, drag-flickers aren’t solely responsible for the success of PCs.
“We lack the number of shots on goal. Naturally, if you don’t have shots on target, you won’t have goals. In PCs, the drag-flicker comes last. If there’s some issue with the injector and the stopper, then the drag-flicker doesn’t play a role. We have narrowed it down to three players who will be focussing on injecting and stopping, and we hope this bears results,” he said.
For skipper Salima Tete, it’s all about putting all the work gone into practice and showing it on the field against the Australians. “We found through video analysis that we tend to rush a lot inside the D. Our first aim should be to not let the ball come into our half and prevent conceding penalty corners. And if that happens, PC defence should be solid,” she revealed.
