Hoping for the best but not losing sleep over Pro League results: Harendra

The Hindu

18 hours ago

As the Indian women's hockey team gets ready for the European leg of the FIH Pro League, coach Harendra Singh hopes to finish high up on the table by the end of the month to have a shot at qualifying for the 2026 World Cup but is not losing sleep over it.
'Honestly, there are a lot of possible outcomes. With two host teams, Germany already qualified as last Pro League winner and teams like Argentina and Australia expected to get through the continental route, finishing among the top-five in the Pro League can give us a realistic chance. But there will be two more chances, the Asia Cup and the World Cup qualifier.
'We do not want to leave it till the end, but we are not taking any pressure on this tour either because then we don't do well. I want them to play free, play attacking and not bother with the result, there will be other competitions for that,' Harendra said in a pre-match interaction from London.
India will face off against Australia in the first of its eight matches on Saturday, and Harendra is confident of his girls making good use of the learnings from their tour Down Under last month. India lost four of its five games on the tour, winning the final match by a solitary goal.
'The biggest learning from the Australia tour was seeing them play full press and how to handle it, stretching the opponent with counter control, resilience on the pitch specially in one-on-one situations and playing stick-to-stick hockey.
'But we need to be more alert in the Pro League and with more peripheral vision and fast hockey, I am sure we are capable of good results in the next four games,' he added.
He also insisted that there were no fixed roles any more. 'Modern hockey is one goalkeeper and 10 players, there is no longer any particular position or role for a player.
'It has become all the more clear after the Australia tour, but for now, our biggest focus is on two departments, mainly because they are vital for results — goalkeeping and drag-flicking.
'We have been working with Simon Zijp for the former, we sent Deepika and Manisha Chauhan 10 days ahead to train with Toon Siepman, one of the best drag-flicking coaches in the world, and we have Taeke Taekema with us.
'We are also working on the PC combinations, with more focus on the injector and the stopper. Earlier there were 5-6 girls rotating, now it's down to three girls for these roles, we are working on the combinations. Our fitness levels have improved drastically, and the team is now 70-80 percent fit — we don't need to peak right now, the target is Asia Cup in September,' he declared.