India locks horns with Australia

By S. Thyagarajan

SYDNEY, APRIL 5. Competitive hockey acquires a multi-dimensional dynamics, an identifiable contour glistening in every inch and an accentuated importance in the year of the Olympics. Every event takes on this prefix conveying that extra aura which gives sport an additional glamour and a sense of expectation. This is especially so when the event comes off in the very site where the Olympic Games, probably the most debated for the complexities involved, are to go on stage in September. The ambience with the superbly developed and carved out venues forming the backdrop is bewitching to behold.

Quite predictably, anything associated with an Olympic discipline is dissected, deliberated and determined for its value. Indisputably therefore, the twin-leg pre-Olympic hockey competitions here and Perth next week are perceived as a guide to the inputs made by the participating outfits, each one enjoying the tag as the continental champion.

For the four countries - Australia, Germany, India and South Africa - the twin events are without doubt a litmus test, a test which will give an insight into what lies ahead in the few months remaining for the summit.

From India's standpoint, the stakes involved cannot be underestimated. Few countries between Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 have experimented so much as India. The national teams have played in four continents - Asia, Africa Australia and Europe - in an enviable number of tournaments and in every available grade. A victory here and there hardly obliterated the popular perception of not being good enough to take on strong teams.

If quality is the yardstick, then India meets the requirements. But mere touch of class is no substitute to result, which is better accomplished through devising means, methods and modes to optimise the proficiency levels. That the coaching system here is obsolete and primitive in comparison to the enormous strides made by other countries is an accepted argument. But what is incomprehensible is why India does not produce a thinking coach despite possessing any number world class players.

The line of debate quietly slithers into a different area although very relevant to the competition which begins tomorrow. India picks up the threads after scooping a bronze in the Azlan Shah Trophy consequent to an incredibly poor start. The argument that all the top players hardly figured in a competition or two before together was valid up to a point. This could be substantiated by the palpable level of improvement shown in the later part of the tournament.

Facilities, atmosphere good

How much of it is being retained now when the team locks horns with the formidable Aussies tomorrow stirs the imagination. In a rare step, the IHF ventured to train the team in Brisbane for a fortnight. The benefits accrued out of this exercise are on test again. Chief coach, V. Baskaran, who was supervising the practice session today under the grey skies at Homebush Hockey Centre admitted that the team never had it so good in terms of facilities and atmosphere.

To classify the Indian team as qualitatively good is no exaggeration. After all, the combined experience of the top players from Dhanraj Pillay to Dhillon, from Riaz to Ramandeep, is the envy of many a coach. If the synthesis of this expertise exhibits itself, then no opposition can take India lightly. But the frailties in penalty corners and the palpable inefficiency in defending them are the twin maladies for which no coach has a prescription.

Amidst pronounced advantages and palpable inability to work out a game-plan for defence, India opens the campaign pushing the legion of its supporters into another vortex of expectation. A win against any of the three is an event to be cherished.

For, even the South Africans achieved a series win in favour of them not long ago. One has to search every crevice in the mind to recall a victory against Germany or Australia in an important competition. That probably is the saddest part of India's hockey heritage in the last two decades. India will be missing mid- fielder Baljit Singh Saini, who is returning home tomorrow for a post operative care after an appendicectomy was performed at the Tweed District Hospital. He is expected to touch the finesse level again in six weeks.

Aussies pragmatic

Pragmatic. This in essence is the approach of the Aussies for Sydney and Perth. Understandably, the goal is Olympic gold before the home audience, a dream that, surprisingly and agonisingly, remains unfulfilled despite projecting an extraordinary level of gifted and shaped talent. Whether Terry Walsh will draw that enchanting dimension for the Aussies what the likes of Richard Aggiss and Frank Murray failed to etch with such masters of the sport as Ric Charlesworth, Craig Davies, Mark Haeger and Warren Birmingham is the expectation here.

As many as 23 out of the 24 in the probables will be fielded in two competitions providing selectors scope to judge the material available. Australia has not figured in a serious competition since October last against Germany. Coach Terry Walsh believes the opposition teams are ``very close to their Olympic teams.''

In the Australian squad 13 will play both in Sydney and Perth with the senior stars James Elmer, Lachlan Dreher and Damon Diletti restricted to one event. Youngsters who are in need of greater exposure like Craig Victory of South Australia, Lachlan Vivian-Taylor of Victoria and Dean Butler figure in both squads.

However, the presence of veteran Jay Stacy, probably the last of the illustrious players to have donned the Aussie colours, remains the link with the past. It will be an event when Stacy completes his 300th international here.

Experienced South African team

South Africa's coach, Giles Bonnett, is right when he says: `` the team selected to tour Australia is the most experienced that has ever represented the country to date.'' It is imperative for South Africa to doing well here in view of the lingering doubts of its presence here again for the Olympics. The National Olympic Committee of South Africa, in a strange and weird perception of strength, has refused to field the men's team expressing apprehension of the team taking a place above ninth in the Olympics.

``Given the circumstances at present in South Africa, this event is fortuitous as it will offer us a yardstick as to how competitive we are against three top sides in world hockey,'' Giles Bonnet said. That the South Africans will go all out goes without saying.

Germany limping back to rhythm

The European champion, Germany, is slowly limping back to rhythm after the long indoor season. The fifth place in Azlan Shah trophy indicated clearly that Paul Lissek is finding difficult to identify the wealth of talent, which looked abundant a decade ago.

The return of Micheal Green should be some solace to the defence where Florian Kunz was conspicuous in the earlier competition at Kuala Lumpur. However, both in individual thrusts as also in combined onslaught the Germans bring in a great deal of variation in system and style. And that is their strong point more than individual skill.

For the enthusiasts visualising the hockey competition at the summer Olympics in September, the four nation tournament is a first class rehearsal.

Thursday's matches: Germany v South Africa (1-30 p.m IST); India v Australia (3-30 p.m).

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