Pargat Singh lays down agenda
National hockey coach-designate Pargat Singh said in Jalandhar that building confidence and strength would be his highest priorities when he takes up his coaching assignment with the 30 probables selected by the Indian Hockey Federation.
The four time Olympic fullback said he would concentrate on improving the hitting and receiving skills of the players. Other areas requiring attention, he said, were improving the finishing in the circle, and conversion of penalty corners, which to his mind have been the team's biggest weaknesses.
Pargat, who has the distinction of having led the Indian hockey squad in two Olympic tournaments - Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 - said he would need time to build a competitive outfit, because most of the probables selected by the IHF were young and fresh. Declining comment about the sacking of ace forwards Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar and controversial goalkeeper Ashish Ballal, Pargat commented that he needed exerienced players in the squad to balance the freshers.
"I have no magic wand to build the team overnight. It would require hard toil on my part and on the part of the players," he added.
The first challenge before the coach and the side is the four-nation National Panasonic Cup tournament to be held in Hamburg, Germany, from August 220-24. The same team will also play a match against Canada on August 19 or 20.
The coach, veteran of over 300 internationals, said it would be his endeavour to draw the best out of the young players. "A player who is mentally relaxed can give a better performance than one who is on edge," Pargat said, adding that confidence building was the key to his immediate goal.
UNI
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