Vice-captain Deepika’s hamstring injury is the Indian women’s hockey team’s major worry as it prepares for the FIH World Hockey League semifinal competition in Antwerp, Belgium. India will open its campaign against the host on June 20.
This tournament will also help to determine the qualifiers to the 2016 Rio Olympics. The 12-team Olympic event will involve the top seven sides in the World League, in addition to the continental champions.
Placed in Group-B with Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Belgium, India’s recently-appointed coach Mathias Ahrens acknowledged that a tough challenge faces him. The prospect only seemed more daunting in the wake of Deepika’s injury. However, the coach remains positive that the vice-captain will return to training at the start of next week.
“She is a central player for us. It’s unthinkable to play without Deepika. Plan-B is in our mind. But a Plan-B isn’t practical,” Ahrens said, adding that there is still time for Deepika to recover fully.
The Canadian is aware there’s a lot of work to be done on ‘Plan-A’ too.
“We are focusing on our penalty corners, long corners and set pieces. The team is spending more time on its speed, and it will help us to cover more distance. The team is strong on the counter attack, and our defence on the counter is improving drastically too. We are now focusing on things to come together, and if we deliver we are on the right track,” he said.
As part of its preparations in Belgium, India will play Italy and Japan in friendly matches. While tougher challenges await Ahrens’s side once the competition begins — the Canadian is mindful of World No.1, the Netherlands, in Group-A — he remains positive that India can compete with the likes of South Korea, Japan and Belgium on an equal footing.
South Korea has already qualified for the Olympics as Asia champion.
Skipper Ritu Rani believes that India possesses genuine hopes of qualifying if it can avoid conceding early goals, an issue that has troubled the side in the past.
On the positive side, the coach and his charges have taken a liking for each other in the early days of his tenure. Ahrens and Ritu were keen to stress that the group has hit the right notes in the little time spent together.
