18 June,2015 08:27 AM IST | | PTI
India captain Sardar Singh says his team must improve on its conversion rate ahead of their Hockey World League semi-final opener on Saturday
Sardar Singh
Antwerp (Belgium): India captain Sardar Singh says his team must improve on its conversion rate ahead of their Hockey World League semi-final opener on Saturday.
Sardar Singh
"Till now, everything is going fine and we have achieved satisfactory results in our training sessions and practice matches. It is unfortunate that we lost to Belgium in our practice match but we have learnt things about our strategies from that match. We are focussing on our finishing and converting our attacks in goals," said Sardar.
Weather advantage
"With the addition of new and young players, the team combination becomes more flexible, which is helping us to create more options in drawing new strategies. The weather is very cool here and best suited to playing hockey. We are looking forward to the first match against France," he added.
Meanwhile, the team spanked lowly USA 4-0 in their third practice match even as the eves narrowly lost 1-2 to Italy in their second warm-up game ahead of the FIH World League semi-final to be held here from June 20 to July 5.
The Sardar Singh-led India team took the lead in the 20th minute yesterday through a penalty corner conversion by Rupinder Pal Singh. Lalit Upadhyay doubled India's lead in the 49th minute with a field effort before Rupinder struck again from a penalty corner three minutes later. Yuvraj Walmiki then scored from a rebound in the final minute of the match after Jasjit Singh Khullar's try from a penalty corner was blocked.
