We have tried to fix the problems, says Nobbs

In a stunning start, New Zealand women upset Australia for the first time five Olympic attempts to set the ball rolling in the London Olympics field hockey competition on Sunday morning. In a championship that has no favourites, Indian men will take heart from this astonishing Kiwi win as they take on The Netherlands in a group league match at the River Bank on Monday evening.

With no great aspirations in a formidable group that has defending Olympic champions Germany, Azlan Shah 2012 champions New Zealand, Asian giants Korea and of course, Belgium, world No. 10 India will have a lot to prove this time.

Indian coach Michael Nobbs is adopting a more zonal game to tackle the European teams that adopt power and speed as their main weapons. However, a lot will rely on India’s short-corner conversion rate as current trends show a general decline in field goals.

The Indians have been experimenting with a group of men, led by drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and midfield general Sardar Singh to perfect the penalty corner conversion. Almost 60 per cent of India’s training sessions have been devoted to this.

“There is no denying the importance of corner conversions. We have tried to fix the problems and we will know the results,” Nobbs has repeatedly said in his interaction with the Press. With precision and power the buzzwords in short-corner strategies, the Dutch will be the team to watch in the tournament. A lot of pressure will be on the defence line and of course, the goalkeeper.

Indian skipper Bharat Chetri admitted India had to play every game with lot of attention. “We will take it one game at a time. As a team, we are fit and fine and the Village spirit has really helped us unwind,” he said in an exclusive chat.

Nobbs said Sardar and Ignace Tirkey were fit, they were injured on the European tour ahead of the London games, and barring the minor niggle, there were no great concerns. “It’s a game of hockey and there will be niggles. But it’s all fine,”Nobbs said.

The Dutch have appeared 13 times at the Olympic Games since making their debut in 1928. Their highlight is winning back-to-back gold medals in 1996 and 2000. In Beijing in 2008 they finished on top of Pool B with four wins and a draw, but lost on penalty strokes to Germany in the semifinals. They then lost 6-2 to Australia in the bronze medal match.

Currently world No. 3, the Oranje qualified for London 2012 after finishing second at the 2011 Euro Hockey Nations Championships in Monchengladbach. The team finished third at the 2011 Champions Trophy in December 2011. After progressing as group winners from the first stage of the tournament, they then lost to Spain and Australia in the second round to progress to the third-place playoff. They defeated hosts New Zealand 5-3 to finish third.
 
After an indifferent tour of Europe in July, India’s best show came in the Azlan Shah Cup in May-June. In Malaysian India finished third after defeating fellow London qualifiers Pakistan and Korea in the round-robin stage, and then accounted for Great Britain 3-1 in the third-place playoff.
But then the Olympics can make a mockery of history and records. All that will matter from Monday will be coordination and planning on a blue turn that may give the jitters to the best of teams.