Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh & Co look to shift gears

Rourkela, March 7

The Indian and Australian men’s hockey teams arrived here today for the ongoing FIH Pro League season.

India, Australia and reigning world champions Germany will lock horns with each other in six matches at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, starting Friday.

India captain Harmanpreet Singh said his team is delighted to return to Rourkela, which was one of the two venues for the 2023 World Cup.

“We hope to put up an impressive show as we gear up for the challenge of playing against two top teams — Australia and Germany,” the ace drag-flicker added.

Last year in October, India kicked off their campaign with impressive 4-3 and 7-4 wins against New Zealand followed by a 2-3 loss and a 2-2 draw against Spain.

Meanwhile, Australia coach Colin Batch too is looking forward to the challenge. “It’s nice to be back in India. We are pleased to play in the wonderful stadium in Rourkela and we are expecting big crowds,” Batch said.

He also revealed that injury concerns have led to some changes within the squad, with the team likely to field a young side. “We have a very different team from what we had in the World Cup. We are going through a development stage currently. We still want to play well and do well in the tournament, but we have some injuries which were unavoidable after the World Cup. So, it’s about giving opportunities,” he said. — IANS

Drag-flicking, keeping lessons at U-16 level

New Delhi: Hockey India (HI) will start giving specialised training on drag-flicking and goalkeeping at the under-16 level as part of its new grassroots development programme starting later this month. HI president Dilip Tirkey said that former India drag-flickers like Rupinder Pal Singh and VR Raghunath could be part of the programme to train the youngsters. “We have spoken internally that we will take the help of retired players like Rupinder and Raghunath and former goalkeepers in the grassroots programme. We will also bring experts from abroad,” Tirkey said. Under the new programme, HI will conduct zonal championships at the sub-junior (U-16) and junior (U-19) levels.