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India is favourite

S. Thyagarajan

Defending champion India’s stakes are relatively high
Japan not to be taken lightly

CHENNAI: Floated as an idea in the fifties and crystallised in 1982 as the continental hockey championship, the Asia Cup has traversed a long, eventful path.

Listing its vicissitudes from the first edition at Karachi to the one that is all set to unfold on Saturday at Kuantan (Malaysia) will be voluminous. That the initiative came from Pakistan and from the influential FIH and AHF member, Brig. M.H. Atif, should be acknowledged.

The seeds sown at the Hockey Club of Pakistan in 1982 have germinated to emerge as the most sought after title in the continent. Now, it determines the qualifier for the World Cup.

As the defending champion, India’s stakes are relatively high. It may be argued that as host for the next World Cup, the importance this time is unsubstantial. To an extent this may be true.

But given the grey area of the World Cup moving out, then chances for the home team, if it does not win the Cup, may prove difficult. More importantly, as the coach Harendra Singh stressed, is the points in the kitty. India has to climb the ladder from the 10th place now.

Balanced squad

With a balanced and experienced squad waiting to come to grips with Pakistan on Sunday, India is viewed as the favourite.

Under the leadership of Sandeep Singh, whose contribution to the team in terms of goals speaks of his proficiency, the team is all geared up.

The induction of Raghunath to assist Sandeep in penalty corners and Rajpal Singh in attack have considerably enhanced team strength.

The return of Vikram Pillay in support of Gurbaj Singh and Prabodh Tirkey on the flanks lends the mid-field an extra bit of solidity.

Expectedly, the livewire in the frontline is Prabjhot Singh, whose lethal finishes should wrap up matches.

Catastrophic results

Consequent to the catastrophic results in the last few years, including the Olympics at Beijing, Pakistan (winner in 1982, 85, 89) looks to Sohail Abbas to arrest the decline.

Out of the reckoning for one reason or the other, Sohail has been recalled along with Wasseem and Rehan Butt to improve the fortunes of the team.

South Korea (winner in 1993, 97), the highest-ranked team in the competition, is bound to go all out to make its place certain for the next World Cup in New Delhi.

Japan is another contender not to be easily taken as the Malaysians will vouch after playing it in the Olympic qualifier last year. The fourth team in this pool is Bangladesh.

The Asia Cup was scheduled to be held at Dubai but was shifted to Malaysia on account of the difficulties expressed by UAE to go ahead with the event.

The withdrawal of Sri Lanka last week reduced the competition to seven teams, forcing the Tournament Committee to shuffle the pools.

The revised pools: Pool ‘A’: South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Bangladesh. Pool ‘B’: India, Pakistan, China.

Saturday’s matches: Pakistan vs. China (12.30 p.m. IST), South Korea vs. Malaysia (2.30 p.m.); Japan vs. Bangladesh (4.30 p.m.).

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