‘CT would’ve been a good build-up for Oly qualifiers’

n By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Sept 13

HIS cell phone kept ringing since he touched the Indian shores. His friends, hockey lovers and followers congratulated him. Journalists took most of his early morning time for some exclusive quotes. But Indian hockey captain Rajpal Singh never got annoyed. Rather, he was more than happy to respond to every call.
“They all are our well wishers. How can I ignore them,” said Rajpal with a chuckle, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ from New Delhi.
Rajpal and his young men defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the final to clinch the maiden Asian Champions Trophy at Ordos in China last Sunday.
The Indian team remained unbeaten in the tournament drawing three matches and winning as many to clinch the trophy. This was India’s first major championship in four years since Prabodh Tirkey had lifted the Asia Cup in Chennai in 2007.
The Indian captain was sad to know that the Champions Trophy, supposed to be held in India, has now been shifted to Auckland, New Zealand.
“It’s sad. It would have been better had it been played in India. We would have got a chance to play some of the top teams ahead of Olympic qualifiers. It would have been a good build-up. But now we will have to play as the top-seeded team at the Champions Challenge in November in South Africa. We will have to win that meet to qualify for Champions Trophy. But our main aim is to qualify for London Games and we will work much harder to achieve our goal,” said Rajpal.
The Indian captain said it’s a great moment for Indian hockey as the win would give a big boost to the game.
“It’s good that we won a major title at this juncture. Indian hockey is being ridden with controversies in the recent past and we did not let that affect our game,” said Rajpal.
According to Rajpal, the secret of this team’s success was the unity amongst the players. “We were united during the entire tournament. We never let the off-field controversies affect our game. We concentrated on the game at hand. It’s not our job to think about the tussle between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation,” Rajpal stated. Indian team was without experienced players like Arjun Halappa, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh who are nursing injuries. But the juniors grabbed the opportunities with both hands and Rajpal said they performed above expectation.
“Yes, the team would have been a much stronger had seniors like Shivendra, Arjun, Tushar been there. But the juniors performed exceedingly well, above expectation. “They were new but not raw. All of them had played at international level so they had the feel of playing an international tournament. But they really played well,” he said. The captain had special praise for midfielder Gurbaz Singh who was exceptional in all the matches.
“Gurbaz was player of the tournament. He was excellent in the midfield. His passes were accurate and ball trapping was unbelievable,” said the captain. Rajpal said the new penalty shoot-out rule, which was used during the final, favoured India.
Earlier, the shots were taken from a fixed spot but according to changed rules, the tie-breaker involves the striker starting with the ball from outside the 23-yard circle and have to beat rival goal-keeper to score within eight seconds.
“We had used this method a few year back during the Premier Hockey League (PHL) so we had a fair bit of idea about that. You can say the new rule has helped us more. But yes we practised it during this tournament also,” informed the Indian forward.








I wanted to make my country proud: Sreejesh


By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Sept 13

IT WAS a final and it was India vs Pakistan. And nobody in the Indian camp wanted to give any leeway to the arch-rivals. In the end it all boiled down to one man — the goal-keeper. The lanky Indian custodian Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh, who was out of the international circuit for around a year, decided to hoist the Indian flag a notch up than Pakistan. The six-foot tall Indian goal-keeper used his height to thwart Pakistan as he made two crucial saves that saw India lift the Asian Champions Trophy.
Goal-keepers are admired only when it comes to penalty shoot-outs and Sreejesh decided to make it his day.
“You know the only time a goal-keeper gets the credit is when the game is decided on penalties. I think it was my day and I was lucky to save those two penalties,” said the elated Indian goal-keeper while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ from New Delhi. “During the shoot-outs my mind was clear. I just wanted to save the shots and make my country proud,” he added.
Coach Michael Nobbs used both the goal-keepers in the tournament and it was by rotation that Sreejesh got the opportunity to stand under the bar in the final. “After we entered the final, our coach (Michael) Nobbs said that I would be the first choice goal-keeper for the final. So I was prepared for the big match,” said Sreejesh who missed the Commonwealth Games due to back injury.
The lanky goal-keeper said he got the advantage of his height during the match. “Being a 6-footer always helps. In the final also I took the advantage of my height,” added Sreejesh.
Sreejesh last represented India during last year’s European tour after which he suffered disc injury. Those were painful days for the Kerala-born keeper. “I suffered a disc injury which forced me out. I took rehabilitation and was advised proper rest. Slowly I started practising and got into rhythm. I worked hard as I always wanted to be back in the Indian squad,” he said.
Despite being the hero of the team for winning the title, Sreejesh feels that he needs more hard work to cement his place in the team. “I will work much harder and will try my best to keep my place in the team.”
Sreejesh wanted to dedicate his medal to his fellow custodian Adrian D’Souza. “He is my best pal. He always helped me on and off the field. I want to dedicate this (gold) medal to him,” Sreejesh proudly said. Sreejesh said instead of ruing the missed chance of Champions Trophy the team should concentrate on the Champions Challenge. “I think we should forget this (missing Champions Trophy) and plan about the Champions Challenge which is going to be held in November in South Africa. If we win that tournament we would qualify for the main tournament,” he signed off.