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Published : Jul 09, 2025 13:33 IST , NEW DELHI – 3 MINS READ
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FILE PHOTO: Harendra said the Indians also need to work on their penalty corner defending. | Photo Credit: RV Moorthy/The Hindu
India’s under-fire chief coach Harendra Singh on Wednesday blamed the absence of senior players for the women’s hockey team’s horrendous performance at the FIH Pro League and said the young players need to get better at decision-making to develop into world beaters.
The Indian team was relegated to the FIH Nations Cup after losing seven of the eight games in the European leg of the Pro League as it finished at the bottom.
“It’s a new team. Several experienced players were missing due to injuries, defence in particular. What we need to work on is time management and game management,” Harendra said during a virtual interaction.
“To work on that area we need to create scenarios and read the game. Like fielding inexperienced players in the defence and then observe where they stand. If they fail, we will have to depend on seniors,” he said.
“The other point is decision-making. When you are inside the opposition circle, we expect maximum shots on the goal. That will increase the chances of goal.”
The coach said India was badly hurt by the absence of experienced players. “Sushila had ACL tear just one week before Pro League. She is one the fittest defenders. She is not available for the Asia Cup also. Nikki Pradhan and Udita have some hamstring problems, so we had to drop them also. Promising striker Sangita Kumari was also inured. She is a young player so I didn’t want to take a chance”.
Harendra said they are focusing on the mental aspect of the players.
“We have hired a company called Behaviour Insight. There is a guy named Mohan, who is based in Israel. He has worked with lot of cricketers. He is working with RCB. After Olympics I got in touch with him and decided to hire this company. They are working with players individually as well as a team. Before the Asia Cup, in a six-week camp, we are going to work on the area. It’s not mental, its all about decision-making and anxiety and they are working in these areas,” he said.
Harendra said the Indians also need to work on their penalty corner defence.
“PC (penalty corner) defending is an area which we need to work more. We didn’t have experienced players like Udita and Nikki Pradhan in defence in the European leg. We need to work on our defence. We are disheartened that we are out of the Pro League but I am not in pain, the reason being if you look at the Pro League matches, we have made the gap pretty close with the top teams,” Harendra said.
“But three major identifications that I have done is that we conceded soft penalty corners—52 PCs is very high. We also conceded penalty corner goals around 35 per cent. Rest in the field play we were very much close, number of circle penetration was also higher compared to other teams. If I summarise, we are very much close to the top teams but the main area of concern is giving soft PCs and if you do, don’t concede goals. These are the areas we need to work hard before the Asia Cup [in Hangzhou from September 5-15]. This is a young team, I won’t blame my players. Six or seven players played Pro League for the first time,” he added.
Harendra sees relegation from the Pro League as an opportunity to reset things.
“I won’t say it’s a setback but we are disheartened. We now have to reset ourselves, we need to rebuild our confidence,” he said.
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FIH Pro League /
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