Indian youngsters have done well at Asian Champions Trophy, says Lazarus Barla
Former hockey defender Lazarus Barla has mentioned that the young Indian players have performed well at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy which will strengthen the team for the upcoming World Cup. He believes that the Indian team will have an upper edge against Pakistan in the final match today.
The Indian hockey team has qualified for the final of Asian Champions Trophy being played in Muscat where they will face arch-rivals Pakistan later in the day. The Indian team has remained unbeaten so far in the tournament and they got the better of Japan by a score of 3-2 in a competitive semi-final game last evening. Youngsters Gurjant Singh, Dilpreet Singh and vice-captain Chinglensana Singh scored in the game for the Indian team. The young Indian hockey players have shown good skills in the tournament so far where India won every game apart from the tied one against Malaysia where both the teams failed to score a goal.
India will now meet Pakistan in the final tonight in Muscat and will try to continue its winning streak. In the league stage, India had defeated its neighbouring team by 3-1 goals. India also edged past the Korean team in the league stage by 4-1 goals where drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh impressed one and all with a hat-trick against one of the strongest teams in the tournament.
Former Olympian Lazarus Barla, in an exclusive chat with SportsCafe, has said that the Indian side has got a very good pool of young players which is proved in the Asian Champions Trophy. They have put together a good show and this performance will give them a big boost for the upcoming World Cup which is only a month away.
Speaking to SportsCafe, Barla said, “We have a very good pool of young players those who are consistently doing well for the country and prior to the World Cup, this is a big positive for Team India. There are a lot of youngsters who are putting up a very good show at the Asian Champions Trophy and this tournament is going to be a big boost for them and the team as a whole as they have done well against some of the best teams of Asia.”
Adding about the Indo-Pak final, Barla said, “I am hopeful that the final between India and Pakistan will be a closely-contested one but India will have an upper edge over them as they defeated Pakistan in the league stage of the tournament. I believe the Indian side should clinch the title tonight.”
The Indian team didn’t look in full control against Japan in the semi-final yesterday. Although the defending champions made it to the finals, till half-time the scores were level at 1-1 and Japan gave a tough fight throughout the game. According to Barla, Japan is now improving as a team and they are learning from their mistakes which are helping them to do well match after match.
“Yesterday, Japan came out with a definite plan against India and they were taking semi-final seriously as they had an aim of playing the final. They played good hockey throughout the league stage and that is why they secured a place in the semi-finals. The most important thing is that they didn’t repeat the mistakes they committed in the league stage against India, so could end up playing well against us,” explained Barla.
When asked about the Indian players coming under some pressure in crucial games, he said, “I don’t think the team comes under pressure during big games. Most of the teams get it right in understanding our weak points and strategies prior to the knock-out matches; they make proper preparation to face India. We saw the same thing at the Asian Games semi-final where Malaysia came out with proper planning against us and it worked well for them.”
Barla is now in charge of the ongoing training camp of the rest of the probable players for the World Cup in Bhubaneswar. In the absence of 18 players and head coach Harendra, eight other international players who are also in the radar of the selectors before the World Cup are still undergoing training under Barla who believes that the boys are prepared well enough for tougher challenges in the prestigious event.
“World Cup is not going to be easy for the Indian players but we know that the players have the calibre to take India past the winning line. Harendra’s inclusion as the head coach earlier this year has been beneficial for the team as he has been working hard with the boys in analysing their performance in every game,” said
“Manpreet Singh is a very good player and we all know that but as a skipper, he has also performed well. He is a binding force for the team and in the Champions Trophy, he has proved his skills both as a captain and a player. He has the experience of leading the Indian junior team before and has a proper idea of what a captain needs to do on the turf.”
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