Penalty-corners need improvement,
says under-21 coach

Chief coach of the India under-21 hockey team Rajinder Singh, who returned from Poland on Monday, expressed satisfaction with the teams' performance at the just-concluded six-nation tournament in Poznan, where India finished second behind Germany.

A member of the India's last Olympic gold medal-winning team, at Moscow in 1980, Rajinder said the tournament was "good experience for the youngsters", who will be participating in the Junior World Cup in Hobart in October later this year.

"Most of the teams were complete under-21 teams, whereas the Indian team comprised mostly of under-18 players, who played in the 18th Asia Cup, which India won," he said.

The coach was unhappy with the team's penalty-corner strike rate, saying they were able to convert only 40 per cent of the chances they got.

"The team had practised with Jugraj Singh, but as he was selected to the senior team for the Azlan Shah tournament, we had to depend on Kanwalpreet Singh, who was in the team for the World Cup qualifiers," Rajinder said, adding the team will have to come up with much improvement in this vital department if it has to do well at the coming World Cup.

He informed that Rajpal Singh, who was India's top scorer with seven goals, was adjudged the best player of the tournament.

India lost just one match in the tournament, 1-4 to Germany. About the defeat, Rajinder said since it was the second match, the team had not much time to see the Germans' earlier game. "But the Indian defence played well. Three of the four German goals came off penalty-corners and one off a penalty-stroke," he said.

Rajinder went on to praise the performance of goalkeeper Suraj Kanata, who he said "was outstanding, as he even saved two penalty-strokes in the tournament".

The team will next be playing in a five-nation tournament in Malaysia, starting from August 26. Australia, England, Korea and Malaysia are the other teams participating in the tournament, which will act as a built-up for the Junior World Cup.