A nervous India will launch their campaign in the World hockey Olympic qualifying tournament with a match against Russia here on Saturday, fully aware that any slip-up at this stage could shatter their hopes of an Olympic berth.
Since only the winner of the tough six-nation tournament would book a place in the Beijing Olympics, chief coach Joaquim Carvalho wants to take one match at a time and not leave anything to chance.
The Indians are keen to win their opening match against Russia with a big margin to avoid the pitfall of goal difference in the later stages of the tournament. “The Russians are an unknown quantity and so, there is no room for any complacency. Our simple strategy would be to score as many goals and win the match,” Carvalho said on the eve of the match.
“It would be the same for the other games. That way, we will avoid the pitfalls of goal difference or depending on results of other matches,” he said at the sprawling Prince of Wales Club here. Carvalho, however, admitted that the task on hand was indeed difficult and the pressure factor could play a decisive role in the fortunes of all the teams.
“It is not just India who will be under pressure, but all the other teams too. We have done everything possible to get the players in top condition and I am confident that we will deliver some strong results,” he said.
Looking ahead to the game against Russia who, incidentally lost 3-1 to Chile in a practice match on Thursday, Carvalho said their emphasis during training sessions had been on tightening the deep defence to cut down the number of penalty corners being conceded.
Veteran full-back Dilip Tirkey, the former captain who is bidding to play in his fourth Olympics, will have a key role to play as he is also an option during penalty corner set-piece drills with his powerful hits. As regards to the overall fitness of the players, the coach said each of them was in prime condition. The only concern was a stiff shoulder that prevented drag-flick specialist Diwakar Ram from light training on Thursday evening.
Nine teams — China, Korea, Pakistan, South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Australia — have earned direct entries to the Beijing Games leaving three spots to be decided through as many qualifying tournaments. India went through a similar qualifying process ahead of the Olympics in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta) and 2004 (Athens), while earning a direct entry for the 2000 Sydney Games on the back of the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games.
Opening day’s fixtures (IST): Great Britain vs Mexico (11 pm); India vs Russia (1 am, Sunday); Chile vs Austria (3.30 am, Sunday).
