HWL 2017 Final: A win over England will make India’s rest day cheery

At the Hockey World League (HWL) 2017 in Bhubaneswar, it doesn’t matter if a team wins or not during the league stage. The format of the eight-team tournament ensures each team plays the quarterfinal. But nothing gets a team in shape better than a win, which is what India will target in their second game of the tournament against England on Saturday, heading into the rest day.

India drew 1-1 with Australia in first match of Pool B, which heard more ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the crowd than ecstatic shrieks after goals, and England were a distant second to Germany in a 0-2 defeat. It will be a rest day for Pool B teams on Sunday, which the colonial cousins would want to enjoy with a win under their belt.

India’s problems against Australia circled around the shoddy final touch and uninspiring penalty-corner routines. Rupinder Pal Singh was understandably rusty, coming from a five-month injury lay-off, but finding excuses to open chances missed by Gurjant Singh and finishing unworthy of a striker of Akashdeep Singh’s experience will be unjustified.

England may not be as testing as Australia but players like Barry Middleton and Mark Gleghorne are capable of turning the screws even on half chances.

Having said that, teams are admittedly taking it easy in the pool stage, where the only thing matters is where you finish in the four-team pools, where the topper of one group meets the bottom-ranked team of the other.

The format, though, has been a point of debate among the players, even if it gives every team equal opportunity for a realistic shot at a medal.

“It (the format) surely makes it easy to accept defeats,” admitted Netherlands striker Billy Baker. “But every team wants to win, even if you are assured to feature in the quarters.”

India and England will share his sentiments and try to challenge Germany, who are the favourites to top Pool B, having won on Friday.

“The discipline has to be really high...But I was happy with the organization,” India coach Sjoerd Marijne said after the draw against Australia.

“In the beginning of any tournament, the first match is always difficult; but I was really happy because we created chances in the beginning of the match,” he added.

The “beginning” is surely out of the way now, and the sooner India gets into a winning mode the better their chances will be for the quarterfinals.

Marijne and Manpreet will hope it begins on Saturday.

Pool B Standings:

1. Germany (3 points)
2. India (1 point)
2. Australia (1 point)
3. England (0 point)