Amit Rohidas targets Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to start 2019 on high

Amit Rohidas targets Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to start 2019 on high

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Hockey India

Amit Rohidas has said that he wants to perform a lot better in 2019 than compared to what he did in the previous year and for that the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia is important to get a good start. The 28th edition of the prestigious event will begin from March 23 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

After a year of mixed results in 2018, the Indian men’s hockey team will play its first tournament of the year in Malaysia. The Manpreet Singh-led side will take on Asian Games gold medallist Japan in the first match of the six-team tournament on the inaugural day of the event. Like all the players in the Indian side, who were a part of the previous World Cup, Rohidas will also want to come out of the disappointment and start a fresh year on a refreshing note.

“Sultan Azlan Shah is the first tournament of the year and the camp in Bengaluru was the first camp for us. I am happy with my preparations for the tournament. Past is past, so we are focussing on the future competitions. Obviously, it was really disappointing losing the quarter-final. It was not our day and we were extremely unfortunate to miss out going further ahead in the World Cup,” Rohidas told SportsCafe during an exclusive chat. 

“Sultan Azlan Shah is important for us because, after this, we have the Olympic qualifiers (FIH Series Finals) at home. We will try to give our best in the tournament and I hope this will be a good tournament not only for me but for the whole team.” 

India will go into the first tournament of the year without a chief coach as Harendra Singh was shown the doors after India’s exit from the World Cup in the quarter-final round. Hockey India’s High-Performance Director is in charge of the team with analytical coach Chris Ciriello continuing being a part of the support staff.

Rohidas has explained why these coaching camps are important ahead of the major competitions. Hockey India also had a similar camp before the World Cup with more than 30 probable players under Harendra and now before the team was declared for the tournament in Malaysia, the board had called 34 players for the national camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru. 

“Chris Ciriello, David John, Piyush Dubey and Kariappa were the coaches at SAI, Bengaluru camp and they took proper care of all players. There is not a lot of problem that we are facing without a head coach,” the Odisha defender explained.  

“Our team is practising really well and we have a positive mindset in the team. These camps are very helpful in team building before a major event. Our mistakes and small problems in techniques are rectified during these camps and I feel it has a crucial role to play ahead of an important tour.”

 © Hockey India

With some senior players injured for the upcoming six-nation tournament in Malaysia, Hockey India has selected a young India side from the Bengaluru camp. However, Rohidas has underlined the fact that the senior members like PR Sreejesh, Birendra Lakra, Kothgajit Singh and skipper Manpreet will be there to guide the young talents and help them do well in Malaysia. 

“Youngsters have got a chance in the team for Azlan Shah and they will try to do well there. If they do well in Malaysia it will give them more confidence and prepare the young members for the next big event that is Olympic qualifiers. Qualification for the Olympics is important for us and we want to prepare well and get ready for that,” the 26-year-old said.

“The senior players in the team are always helpful as they make us understand our mistakes and ensure that we don’t repeat those in the future. The junior players in the team walk up to the seniors and ask them about the faults without any difficulties and the senior teammates also help them out during that.”

Amidst all the preparation and after playing in domestic competitions, Rohidas’ memories from the World Cup at his home turf are still afresh.  It was a mixed tournament for the young man from Sundergarh and he wanted to keep aside the bad ones and talk about the moment which grabbed the eyeballs of hockey lovers all across India. Rohidas converted a penalty corner in a goal in the 51st minute of the game against Canada that the team won by 5-1 goals but it was not a conventional drag-flick but a variation in the form of a low-trajectory hit which legendary Dilip Tirkey used to score goals off short corners. 

Rohidas, who also comes from the same village in Sundergarh district from where Tirkey hails from, has said that he was always inspired by Tirkey and even practices that shot for penalty corner conversions. A World Cup goal at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar will go down as one of the most memorable moments in his hockey career. However, when asked about his meeting with Tirkey after that goal, Rohidas replied that he hasn’t met the former captain after that.

“During the preparations at the camp ahead of the world cup, I was taking drag flicks and also that hits to convert PCs. The coach was satisfied with that and wanted to execute in one of the games during the tournament. When I got a chance, I converted that into a goal and I was really delighted to get it in front of the home crowd and that too in the World Cup. I am continuing that practice even today. I am trying both the variations in converting PCs during the training sessions,” the Sundergarh lad concluded. 

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