FIH Series Finals | I am very happy for young players, says Graham Reid

After trailing by a goal early in the first quarter of the semi-final game against Japan, hosts India turned things around to win the game by a huge margin of 7-2 at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday. Ramandeep Singh was awarded the Man of the Match for his brace yesterday as the Indians set-up the summit clash against South Africa on Saturday.

India have now qualified for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers which will be held later this year. They will be drawn against a particular opponent in order to earn a ticket for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in October-November this year. With one more round to go, Team India will practice hard with a couple of tours before November this year.

Japan coach Siegfried Aikman, who faced the media before Reid, was of the opinion that the Japanese unit lacked “physicality” against the hosts on Friday. The hosts of the next Olympics will take on the USA in the third-position play-off game today.

“We lacked the physicality of India. Two of my players took hits and that intensity what the Indian players showed makes the game so good. We are not used to that kind of hockey. But the best thing is that now we know better after playing match at this level,” Aikman stated.