India’s Asian Games performance an aberration: Charlesworth

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, october 20

Former Australia coach Ric Charlesworth believes the Indian men’s hockey team’s performance at the Asian Games, where they finished third, was an aberration. Charlesworth, who had a short stint in India as the technical director, added that constant chopping and changing of coaches has played a part in India failing to win big medals.

Excerpts:
Were you surprised at how India performed at the Asian Games?

We were all surprised at the result but it is only an example of what you learn. If you get overconfident it is at your own peril. If you win so easily then you need to be aware that somebody will be coming for you and if anybody is motivated and tactically aware and then they make it hard for you to play and so in a low scoring game it becomes difficult to win and India had that experience there. But it is an aberration as their form in recent times has been pretty good.

Do you think changing coaches so frequently helps a side like India?

Don’t think it is a good idea. You only have to look at the record of Terry Walsh and Roelant Oltmans to say that they have done a good job and they have created an environment where you have a good team. But I think there are sometimes too many changes and that they are not necessarily good. When I came here a decade ago, I said it was a 10-year project and you need consistency and reliability, you need to make some appointments and stick with those.

You’ve said that during the last Champions Trophy, India played better than Australia in the final but still lost. Where do you think the Indians have improved?

If you look all round the pitch, they have confident players who believe in themselves and who are more aware then they were. They know the international players only have two arms and two legs and they are capable of beating them. And India has dexterous players who are skillful. Mentally I think they have become tougher so all of those things add up to a much more consistent team.

But India as a team is still making elementary mistakes; the semifinal loss against Malaysia is an example.

People get nervous when they are leading. In my book I wrote ‘you never defend a lead you try and score another goal’. The first rule of sports psychology is that you focus on the process and not on the outcome. So that’s a lesson they have to learn. You look at the final of the Asian Games, Malaysia were leading by three goals at one stage and they ended up losing. So it happened to them even though they did it to India. It is a reality of sport.