Prime Minister's Gold Cup tourney from today

By S. Thyagarajan

DHAKA, MARCH 9. Hockey in Asia will acquire an added image, a credible identity and a vibrant vista with the start tomorrow of the Prime Minister's Gold Cup tournament here. A new entity emerges in the role of a promoter, allured by the romance that has set the sub-continental ethos on a different equation, Not that Bangladesh is a newcomer. Only the threads are picked up after the momentous Asia Cup in 1985.

Traumatic though the end then was with the verdict engulfing India and Pakistan in the vortex of controversy, it is difficult to refrain from recalling the tumult that lasted well over a year. The attack on the Japanese umpire, Yubuta, shocked the fraternity and the FIH slapped a ban on the five suspected Indians. Much water has flowed under the Farakka Barrage thereafter. Now, Bangladesh reinvents itself as an organiser. With the Government lending a helping hand, prompted by the encouraging performance, the tournament promises to fulfil the goal of seeing Bangladesh as part of the next World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. That it won the nod for the qualifier in Edinburgh, is in itself a recognition of the country's enhanced credentials.

Bangladesh will be happy with a semifinal berth here. But what the authorities are keen about is to assess the leeway between the Olympic rankers and their national team. A fifth place in Asia Cup last year after the 10th slot in the Asian Games is definitely a vast improvement. Given the disadvantage of not having a synthetic pitch till a few years ago, the progress recorded cannot be ignored, despite being dwarfed by the achievements of the neighbors, India and Pakistan.

How professionally Bangladesh Hockey Federation approaches its goal can be substantiated by the efforts taken to rope in a German coach, York Schumacher, for a period of four years under the Bangla-Germany agreement. There is a new dynamism in the training under the expert German since November last. The efficacy of it will be judged when Bangladesh takes on Japan, fourth in the last Asiad in 1998.

India and Scotland are the other contenders in Pool A. Quite predictably, the expectation is an India-Pakistan final on March 20. The course towards this end can be fascinating to foretell. For India the reverse in the German series is no doubt a minor setback. But the team has been revamped with appropriate replacements.

Dhanraj Pillay returns

The return of the veteran Dhanraj Pillay should inspire the youth. Fit and artful as ever, Dhanraj is still the best bet to transform the course of a contest. With Baljit Singh Dhillon and Deepak Thakur, the attack, led by Dhanraj, can be formidable if the youngsters Daljit Singh Dhillon and, the newcomers, Prabhjot Singh and Inderjit Singh, contribute substantially to inject that verve into the attack. Inderjit Singh is fresh from a trophy triumph for the junior team at Cairo.

The strength of the mid-field wears an enhanced look with the induction of Radhakrishnan and Arjun Halappa, both promising juniors. In the German series, Bipin Fernandes, distinguished himself in the company of the seniors, Thirumal and Baljit Singh Saini. With Barla acting as additional link backed by the indefatigable Dilip Tirkey and Dinesh Nayak, the base defence can be projected a solid. Additionally, the work of Jude Menezes under the bar has been exemplary in the last year and half. He is, in present form, as good as any of his contemporaries.

The hospitalisation of the chief coach, Cedric D'Souza in Chennai following suspected food poisoning, upset the rhythm of preparations. It is a measure of Cedric's commitment that he managed to conduct a theoretical coaching session with the board within the hospital. The Indian team surviving moments of uncertainty about their departure schedule reached here this afternoon. India takes on Scotland on Sunday in the opening match.

Pakistan, whose participation was personally cleared by the Chief Executive, Gen. Parvez Mushraff, after some uncertainty cropped up over strained diplomatic relations between Islamabad and Dhaka, is the highest rated Olympic outfit in the competition.

Fourth at Sydney and possessing a few brilliant strikers and stylists, Pakistan will lean heavily on the penalty corner strikes of Sohail Abbas. The absence of Atif Bashir, Shabir Ahmed, Ali Raza and Zakarulla, who are injured may affect the frontline power, which now rests on Sarwar, Kamran Asriff and Naveed Iqbal. Goal-keeper Ahmed Alam leads the side which has three coaches, Shahbaz Ahmed, Hanif Khan and Kwaja Junaid.

New role for Shahbaz

Acknowledging the pressure as a coach after an illustrious career as a player, Shahbaz said the experience gained over the years would be invaluable to him. The four year stint in Holland, he said, had given him an insight into modern coaching. ``I will give the team my best,'' he said, when the Pakistanis trained this morning.

Malaysia has a newlook squad. Only Kuhen Shanmuganathan and Nor Azlan Baker could easily be spotted as being part of the experienced brigade. The worth of the experiment remains to tested, especially when the team has acquired again the services of a stalwart coach as Paul Lissek.

The Pools: A: India, Bangladesh, Japan and Scotland: B: Pakistan, China, Egypt, Malaysia and Ireland.

Saturday's match: Bangladesh v Japan (3 p.m. IST).

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