Next 6 weeks crucial for Indian hockey team: Oltmans

High on confidence from their historic Silver medal win at the recently concluded FIH Champions Trophy, team India is geared up to face-off against some of the top teams in the 6-Nations Invitational Tournament starting on Monday in Valencia, Spain.

Viewed as a warm up against the teams bound for the 2016 Olympics, India will meet Argentina, Germany and Ireland who play in the same pool in Rio, the team will also lock horns with hosts Spain and New Zealand. “I believe our consistency has improved considerably but we need to get better. This next six weeks will be crucial in terms of peaking at the right time. When it comes to the Olympics, the big teams like world champions Australia and Germany (defending Olympic Gold medalists) always raise their bar and I keep reminding this to our players. The level we played in Champions Trophy will not be enough for the Olympics if we are vying for a medal,” Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans expressed, stressing that the next six weeks will define the team’s Rio expectations.

India will begin their campaign in Valencia against Germany and play minnows Ireland the following day. “How we play against Argentina and Germany in the 6- Nations tournament will set the momentum to achieve our goals at the Olympics. The focus will be to take it game-by-game and the result will follow if our process is in order and we stick to executing the game plan we have for each of the teams,” he added ahead of the opening game.

With the team’s heroics at the Champions Trophy, the Chief Coach feels we are at par with the top teams in the world and on a good day, can upset any team. “We played back-to-back matches in London and never let a loss affect our next game. For instance, after drawing the opener with Germany we beat Britain. Though we lost to Belgium, we beat Korea, lost to Australia but drew the final against them. This shows that we have matured as a team and can handle loses better and the level of fitness the boys have shown while playing back-to-back games is a good sign for us,” he stated.

The week-long tournament will see skipper Sardar Singh back in action, while other rested players for Champions Trophy Rupinder Pal Singh and Ramandeep Singh promise to add steam to the team’s performance. Birendra Lakra, who was nursing an injury, will also be seen gaining some match exposure for the first time in four months. “I am pleased the players have carried out their responsibilities and showed their leadership skills when we rotated the Captain’s band in London. The youngsters doing well means that the competition will be stronger within the team to push each other higher to make the final cut for the Rio squad. And this tournament will be watched closely on how each player performs ahead of the final selection.” he concluded.