India are almost on par with top teams : Roelant Oltmans

After the gruelling schedule of the Champions Trophy, the men’s hockey team travel to Valencia, Spain for a six-nation invitational tournament. As the team left from London, Oltmans spoke to TOI and said that the side’s improvement was visible. On being asked about the biggest takeaway from the Champions Trophy performance, he said, “The biggest positive is that we are making good progress and that's what I was looking for. Also, it showed that we are almost on a par with the top teams in the world. That is something we had to start believing in before the Olympic Games. “The event also gave our team the opportunity to play some big matches ahead of Rio. At the same time, it is important that we don't get complacent and continue to make progress in the build-up to the Olympics.”

When asked who he thought the team played their best against in the Champions Trophy, Oltmans said “We played well in more than one match. For example, in the match against Korea , we completely dominated the game. Not a goal or penalty corner was conceded. Having said that, we can be critical about the game because we scored just twice, instead of scoring 4-5 goals. And, of course, the final against Australia: bouncing back from the 2-4 result the previous day was encouraging”. India had survived a late scare from the Koreans in their league match face-off in the tournament. After enjoying a one-goal lead for some time, India was rocked by a 57th minute goal by the Koreans before Thimmaiah helped them regain the lead immediately.

ICC proposals, the long due change ODIs needed

When asked about his thoughts on the defence, which has been labelled as inconsistent, the head coach said, “There are positives in that area too but we conceded too many penalty corners against Australia (in the final). Overall our defence was good. We played different defence structures and that is encouraging for the future.”

Oltmans also commented on the mental strength of the team. “If you look at the back-to-back matches in this tournament, we won two on the trot and performed better in the second match against Australia. This shows that along with our physical fitness our mental health is also improving,” he told TOI.

When questioned about the importance of the six-nation tournament for India’s Olympic build-up and for defender Birendra Lakra, Oltmans said, “It is not at the same level of Champions Trophy as it is not a world-ranking tournament. But Germany, Argentina and Ireland are in the fray and these teams have been pooled with us in Rio. New Zealand and Spain too are participating, but these are teams which we may face later in the tournament (in Rio). So, it is an important tournament.

If gymnastics, why not Yoga? ; India to demand that Olympic Committee make Yoga Olympic sport by 2020

“This tournament will be a test for Birendra who is playing his first tournament after undergoing surgery for a ligament rupture in his right knee.”

The six-nation tournament begins on June 27th and will be India’s last outing before the Olympics.

These Indian kids can create footballing history, but they need your help. You can help Slum Soccer send 20 of our most talented footballers to represent INDIA at the Homeless World Cup at Glasgow. Click here to know more.