Hockey Olympic Qualifiers: Despite doubts over the future of women’s hockey team head coach Janneke Schopman following India’s failure to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris later this year, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey expressed confidence in her performance.”I am quite happy with the performance of the coach. The team has played very well for some time. If the team fails to capitalise on a 2-0 advantage in the shoot-out, doesn’t convert PCs and fails to take advantage of the lead, then we can’t blame the coach. This is the team’s performance. If they had failed to earn any PCs, that would have been another matter. Germany is one of the best teams in the world, so holding them to a draw is a creditable result,” said the Hockey India president after India’s 1-0 defeat to Japan here on Friday.
Tirkey said the team had performed well in the last year or so under Schopman’s guidance and Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Japan in the Hockey Olympic Qualifiers here was just an aberration.
“The team has done well recently. It won the bronze medal in the Asian Games, won gold in the Asian Champions Trophy and has also won many matches. Today also the team played well but they were unlucky not to score a goal against Japan,” said Tirkey after India’s defeat in the third-place match in the Qualifiers.
Tirkey said the team played well in Ranchi despite the absence of three senior players — Vandana Katariya, who is injured, Sushila Chanu and Deep Grace Ekka.
“The team played well here despite the absence of three main players — Vandana Katariya, Sushila Chanu and Deep Grace Ekka. Their performance against Germany was outstanding. It was just bad luck that despite goalkeeper Savita giving the team a 2-1 lead, we could not maintain the lead and lost the match in sudden death
“So, it was our players who lost the match. Otherwise, the Olympic berth would have been settled yesterday itself,” said the former India defender.
The Hockey India president pointed at the team’s failure to capitalise on nine penalty corners as the main reason for defeat. It was disappointing that the team wasted 9-10 PCs, he said.
“We had defeated Japan twice in the run-up to this tournament but could not do the same when it this crucial match. The team wasted nine PCs. In today’s game, PCs are the main weapons, the main scoring opportunity,” he said.
Tirkey said Hockey India has already started working on shortcomings like the inability to convert chances, good drag-flickers and a small talent pool.
“Hockey India has already started working on these areas. In modern hockey, only teams that have good forwards, potent drag flickers, and experts in every department will win matches and titles. So, we have already started working on these areas,” he said.
