India have been without a coach since the departure of Neil Hawgood
Indian women's hockey team players Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (left) and Lily Chanu Mayengbam attend a training sesson at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
New Delhi: Canada’s Mathias Ahrens, who joined as the women’s hockey team coach here on Thursday, said that the focus would be on making the unit into an attacking one.
India have been without a coach since the departure of Neil Hawgood — who joined Malaysian hockey — late last year, and the arrival of Ahrens fills a vital gap ahead of the all-important World League semifinals in Belgium next month.
Ahrens, who watched the girls in action at the recent Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand, said: “When I saw this team play, I realised that their strength is defence. And from now on, the focus will be on attack as well. I was actually surprised to see the team’s dynamics and hunger for success.”
The women’s team are undergoing a preparatory camp here and Ahrens said he had planned a number of things ahead of the tournament. “We face a tough challenge at the World League with New Zealand and Australia in our group, but we are aiming to give a fearless fight. More than them, I think Belgium will be the strongest opponents as they have been playing a lot of games recently but we will chart our strategies well.
“It will be important for us to win the first three matches and qualify for the next stage of the tourney. I think we will work on counter-attacks during this camp, and the final thing will be to take the ball over the baseline and score. We will focus on this and look to improve,” the Canadian added.
Talking about the style of play in the sub-continent, the coach said, “Today, there is not much of difference between the Asian style of play, India’s or say Australia.”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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