Asian Champions Trophy: ‘Lot of celebration, little training makes ACT challenging’

India players celebrate after winning bronze in Paris. Pic/AFP

The Indian hockey team have been dominant on the Asian circuit in the recent past. At last year's Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Chennai (August 3-12) they scored 29 goals in seven matches en route to a gold medal performance. Around a month later, at the Asian Games in Hangzhou (September 24 to October 6), they were even more dominant, scoring 68 goals in seven matches during another virtually unchallenged gold medal show.

The fact that there is no other Asian team besides India (No. 5) in the top 10 FIH world rankings shows the decline in the quality of play in this continent. In this scenario, it should be a cakewalk for Harmanpreet Singh & Co as they head to Hulunbuir, China, to defend their ACT title (September 8-17).

Coach Craig Fulton however does not think so. "There have been a lot of celebrations between the Olympics and now, as the whole country is proud of this team. So, we haven't had as much training as we normally do. The boys have had a lot of rest, so it will be a nice challenge as we look to defend our title in China," Fulton said.

The players assembled for the national camp in Bangalore on Sunday after which Hockey India named an 18-man squad for the ACT on Wednesday. There are quite a few changes to the team that won the bronze in Paris.

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Fulton said the team are ready to begin their rebuilding phase. "We've got five-six new players in this team. It's not the same team that won the ACT in Chennai. We are in a building phase, but we will do our best in China," concluded Fulton. The Indian team will leave for China on September 3.

The Indian team
Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad (vice-captain), Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Manpreet Singh, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak (gk), Suraj Karkera (gk).