Four nations hockey tournament: India up against NZ in second leg opener

New Delhi: India will look to put the disappointment of a first-leg final loss behind, when they take on hosts New Zealand in the second leg of the four-nations invitational men’s hockey tournament, in Hamilton on Wednesday.

In the first leg of the tournament at Tauranga, India got off to a good start with a 6-0 win over Japan but lost 0-2 to Belgium in the following match.

A 3-1 win over New Zealand, who beat Belgium 5-4 in their first match, put the Manpreet Singh-led Indian team in the final.

India topped the pool table with a total of nine goals, having conceded only three in the pool stage while Belgium scored 10 but conceded six.

“As a team, we have made progress match after match. We had four young players make their debut and they scored for us, which is good,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne about the team’s performance in the first leg.

“We came close to beating Olympic silver medallists Belgium which gives us a lot of confidence going into an important calendar year,” he added. Though his team lost a closely-contested final 1-2 to Belgium, Marijne feels the result was a positive.

“You must understand that Belgium are here with their complete squad and they are one of the best teams in the world. Competing with them with the team we have here is still a huge step forward,” he said.

Marijne also pointed out that missed opportunities continue to dent their chances.
“For me, most important is converting the chances into goals. We create enough opportunities but that’s not enough. We must score more goals,” he asserted on the eve of their opening match in Hamilton.

Manpreet said the team were eager to put up an improved performance. “Doing well against a team like Belgium will no doubt give us the confidence for future matches but winning against them will be a big boost for the young players.” Japan take on Belgium in the other match.