Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Gold Coast, April 7
“I was happier with our girls’ performance against Wales yesterday, even though we lost the match 2-3,” says Harendra Singh, the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, after the 4-1 win over Malaysia.
Rani, the captain, says: “Today is much better than yesterday!”
There’s a dichotomy in their words; it’s explained by the targets on which the coach and the players are focussing. Singh the coach is looking at the process and execution; Rani the player is looking at the results. And both are right. Singh is focussing on getting the process right, on getting the players to create opportunities; and Rani today was focussing on ensuring the team won, because a second consecutive defeat would have slammed the door on them.”
Gurjit Kaur scored twice with drag-flicks, while Lalremsiami and Rani scored field goals in the last quarter, in today’s win. The Malaysian girls had managed to equalise at 1-1 with their own penalty-conversion in the 38th minute. India’s attacking numbers display their intent: they had 25 attacking circle penetrations against Malaysia’s 11. Malaysia’s defensive tactics are displayed by the 66% ball possession they enjoyed.
But why have been the Indian girls, ranked 11 in the world, beaten by No. 26 Wales, or hemmed in for part of the match by No. 22 Malaysia?
Defensive Wales, Malaysia
These are the reasons: Wales and Malaysia sat back in defence, with the idea of breaking out on a counter. They wanted to disrupt the rhythm of the Indian players. Singh likens it to trying to drive your way through a series of traffic lights. “There was a lot of traffic on the pitch yesterday and today,” he says. “Wales and Malaysia packed the defence. We had to find our way past them.”
“If you go hard at a traffic light, you’d be stopped at the first or second or the third,” he says.
That’s how defensive-minded, lower-ranked teams deploy players in defence. It’s a tactical battle — you can’t afford to get caught in the “traffic”; you have to stretch the defensive formation of the opposition until it is breached. Singh wanted his team to create one-on-one situations — that’s how the defence is stretched. “We’re better than anyone else in one-on-one situations, both our women and men,” he says.
Then there’s a technical adjustment the players need to make quickly. The turf here is very quick; you tap the ball and it runs away — with the result that the Indian players have frequently lost possession, or have tired themselves by chasing the ball while controlling it.
“I think the girls were running too hard. That’s the reason we committed some basic mistakes, and missed goalscoring opportunities,” says Singh.
Rani confirms this, saying: “We need to use energy smartly, we can’t waste energy.”
Singh says that he was not very upset with the match against Wales because the team had created chances in it. “But the chances that were created yesterday, they were not capitalised. That was what worried me,” he says. “Today we were in the right positions to score, yesterday we were not.”
Points made
So, with today’s win, India have got three points, but they’d be hard-pressed to earn another three — or even one, with a draw — when they take on England, the world No. 2, on Sunday. “We’ve got to stick to our plans,” he said. “I think our girls will like playing England. England are also fast and play attacking hockey. We’ve got the momentum. We’ve got to stick to it.”
