Hockey World League Final: Nothing less than a medal should make India happy

India had been building up to the Hockey World League (HWL) Final in Bhubaneswar even since the 2017 season started. But plagued by injuries to key players, some off-field controversies and embarrassing lows on the pitch, the performance graph never made an upward trend until a decade-long Asia Cup hiatus was broken in Dhaka. But HWL is a different beast, involving teams that India have struggled to beat, and that’s the course-correction Sjoerd Marijne wound want to initiate with this tournament.

Ranked 6th in the world at the moment, but playing the HWL Final only as virtue of hosts, India would want to tell the world that they are not in the top-eight group to make the numbers.

Two wins over a first-choice Netherlands on Europe tour upped the spirits after shocking defeats against Malaysia and Canada at the HWL Semis in London, but it’s at multi-team global tournaments like the HWL Final, where hockey powerhouses flex their muscles with full might, that India aren't there yet.

The last such instance was the 2016 Rio Olympics, and India finished eighth there after beating eventual champions Argentina in the pool stage. Such inconsistency continues to mar Indian hockey, and this tournament will, thus, indicate where we might end up in the World Cup next year.

In short, with Bhubaneswar begins India’s road to 2018 World Cup as hosts at the same venue – the Kalinga Stadium.

Injuries played their part in India’s slump this year as senior goalkeeper PR Sreejesh hurt his knee at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in May and then Rupinder Pal Singh’s hamstring injury ruled him out ahead of the HWL Semis. Though Rupinder makes a comeback in Bhubaneswar, Sreejesh is in the final phase of his recuperation.

INDIA'S TEAM MAKE-UP

It won’t be easy for Rupinder to return to the fold after a five-month layoff but he will be happy to see senior pro Birendra Lakra by his side in defence. Lakra too has returned for national duty after missing the Asia Cup.

The big name missing from the team sheets at the HWL Final will be Sardar Singh, who has been ignored for the tournament. However, Hockey India never clarified whether the former India captain and the 33-man core group’s most experienced player was ‘dropped’ or ‘rested’.

The defensive line-up of Rupinder, Lakra, Harmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Amit Rohidas and Varun is a healthy mix of youth and experience. Plus, barring Lakra, it provides India the option of five dragflickers.

Similarly in the forward-line, Gurjant Singh provides the youthful legs to assist the experienced Akashdeep Singh and SV Sunil. In fact, junior World Cup-winner Gurjant could be the surprise package in the Indian attack that also has the opportunist Mandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay.

Play from the middle of the pitch will be dictated by captain and central midfielder Manpreet Singh. Now a senior member of the team, Manpreet has come through the junior ranks and commands huge respect in the team, especially from newcomers like Dipsan, Varun, Gurjant and Sumit who have made the senior cut recently.

Manpreet will welcome Kothajit Singh back from injury to assist him in the midfield, along with Chinglensana Singh, SK Uthappa and Sumit.

INDIA’S POOL

Drawn alongside title holders and world champions Australia, Germany and England in Pool B, India couldn’t have asked for a better test for their youngsters and new coach Marijne, who is coming from the high of making a trophy-winning debut as coach of a senior men’s team at the Asia Cup in Dhaka.

But by leaving out Sardar, Marijne and HI selectors have perhaps made it clear that players can’t take their places for granted and their future in national colours depends strictly on performance.

Here are India’s pool fixtures:

vs Australia – Dec 1 – 1930 IST
vs England – Dec 2 – 1930 IST
vs Germany – Dec 4 – 1930 IST

FORMAT ASSURES QUARTERFINALS FOR ALL

The tournament format, which involves two pools of four teams each followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final, assures every team of a place in the last-eight stage. The format, which was also part of Rio 2016, has been debated if it makes the pool games irrelevant. But players and coaches have defended by saying that it gives equal opportunity to every team to fight for a place in the semifinals and have a realistic shot at a medal. However, the competition for places remains intense as the top-placed team of one pool plays the bottom-ranked team of the other in the quarters.

PREDICTION

On form, European champions Netherlands look hot for gold and would want to complete a double after the women’s HWL Final was also won by the Dutch team in Auckland last month.

Argentina are the world No. 1 and reigning Olympic champions. So they won’t stomach anything less than a place in the final and then take it from there.

Australia had a horrendous Rio Olympics by their standards and the Kookaburras will be out to remind everyone that they are the world champions.

Belgium have set an example with the way they have progressed in hockey over the last five years, especially with their silver medal at the Rio Games, and they certainly are one of the top contenders for a place on the podium.

Medal hopes for India, who won a bronze in the last edition of HWL Final held at Raipur in 2015, will once again depend on how they play on the knockouts day, like it happened last time around. They won the quarters against Great Britain, lost the semis to Belgium and then went on to win a cliffhanger for bronze in the shootout with Netherlands.

The tenacious Germans won bronze in Rio and are always there in top five of world hockey. On their day, they can beat any team on the turf, which makes them a dangerous outfit to be not considered as a medal winner.

England can surprise anyone, which is why an English team, either as Great Britain on England, has always made its presence felt in top-flight tournaments, like they did by winning the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup this year beating Australia in the final.

Spain, the lowest ranked (No. 9) team in the tournament, have to be the dark horses. Not too long ago, they were considered the most resolute team in world hockey; but ever since support for the game back home has gone downhill, it has hurt their performance and the quality of players coming through.

Medal Predictions:

GOLD: Netherlands
SILVER: Argentina
BRONZE: India/Australia