The highly anticipated return to Hockey India League (HIL) was up to expectations, offering a crucial platform for emerging talents. New stars have made their mark, Fresh Faces found the opportunity to shine and the young players tested themselves alongside some of the best in the world.
Under the vigilant eye of India coach, Craig Fulton, Jugraj Singh experienced a determining career tournament, presenting his powerful dragster films, especially in the final. Throughout the competition, Jugraj obtained invaluable ideas from the first Indian drain exponent, Rupinder Pal Singh.
Fulton nicknamed the “Jugi Olympic Games”, hoping that the defender of Bengal Rarh Tigers would now intervene a strong alternative to the Skipper Harmanpreet Singh in short-Cour-Cour situations.
Defying expectations
Before the tournament returns, tigers were considered the lowest team due to the age and profile of their team. They did not go beyond the graphics for the goals scored, the goals conceded, the circle penetrations or the conversion rates of a penalty corner. However, they challenged expectations, finishing at the top of the group phase after 10 games and finally triumph over the Toofans of Hyderabad – undoubtedly the strongest team – in the final.
“Our players were quite old, so most of the teams underestimated us as the least classified team. It was a question of working on the mental side of the game and behaving like tigers. I told the players that a lion had only one mentality: going for killing, “said a proud Deepak Thakur, the assistant tiger coach.
The Toofans had remained undefeated in the regulatory time on eight games before the final, but were canceled by a triplet of jugraj, who finished as top scorer in the tournament with 12 goals.
Young stars
One of the biggest dishes to remember in Hil was the emergence of young talents. The dependence of the Toofans with regard to their young dividends has paid. The twenty-two-year-old defender, Amandeep Lakra, prospered under the mentoring of Gonzalo Peillat, marking both in the semi-finals and in the final to finish the campaign with five goals.
One of the biggest dishes to remember in Hil was the emergence of young talents like Amandeep Lakra. | Photo credit: Hockey India
One of the biggest dishes to remember in Hil was the emergence of young talents like Amandeep Lakra. | Photo credit: Hockey India
Lakra, who grew up near the Birsa Munda hockey stadium in Rourkela, delighted the local crowd, with her family. Meanwhile, the tournament’s out -of -competition discovery was TooFans’ dynamic striker Arshdeep Singh. His dazzling skills, his direct game and his count of three goals earned him a first call to the senior national team for the next FIH Pro League.
The Hil has also highlighted several domestic players who have come up for a long time, such as Mohammed Raheel and Affan Yousuf. Fulton, looking at the “tower” behind the goal, would undoubtedly have taken note of more names for his surveillance list.
International influence and tactical growth
The eight teams were led by head coaches abroad, providing expertise as coach from Europe and Australia. This exhibition provided national actors – a lot without international experience – the possibility of understanding different tactical systems and game styles, a crucial learning curve before making the next step in their career.
“I think they are gaining a lot of experience from that. Then, when they disappear, they have to think about what they have learned, talk to senior players and coaches and absorb lessons in this way. They are exposed to incredible players – in what environment to develop, “said Australian Tigers head coach Colin Batch after the final.
Toofans’ head coach, Dutchman Pasha Gademan, stressed how Hil helped Indian players develop their tactical conscience. “If I had to go to Europe and build a new team, I would find the players more tactically aware but missing from some of the physical and technical attributes. Here is the opposite. They have physicality, motivation and technical skills, but they must improve their tactical understanding-how to play zonal defense, how to react in different situations and how to learn repeated scenarios, “he explained.
Goalkeeper
The League’s five foreigners rule may have bothered the search for India for a long -term goalkeeper n ° 1. Several Indian goalkeepers have been substituted by brain vascular accidents and shootings, regulars of the national team Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera in front of competing with Toby Reynold-Cotterill and Oliver Payne in their respective franchises. However, the presence of experienced guards such as Dominic Dixon and David Harte would have benefited the junior teams such as Bikramjit Singh (TooFans) and Prince Deep Singh (Tamil Nadu Dragons).
Missed opportunities
Alongside Tigers and Toofans, Sorma Hockey Club and Tamil Nadu Dragons reached the semi-finals. Soorma, led by veterans Harmanpreet and Vincent Vanasch, organized an impressive turnaround before falling into the Toofans.
The dragons, on the other hand, were left in the process of ruining the missed opportunities. Arbitration errors contributed to their fall, but they finally failed on the ground. Despite the management of the table for a large part of the tournament, they had to rush to finish fourth. The team has owned the highest corner conversion rate, but could not provide Jip Janssen with prolific drain-flexion with more opportunities at open game.
Terne group stage, electrifying final
While all the teams have been equaled, the tournament did not really face in its last week, with several lighting lights proving the dull. The Vedanta Kalinga throws and Delhi SG Pipers provided entertainment with matches at high score, but their fragile defensive cost them a place in the Final Four. Meanwhile, the Gonasika team fought with poor execution of a penalty corner.
Each evening, David Guetta’s “memories” resounded through Rourkela’s speakers, with Kid Cudi’s line on Loop: “It is done late, but I don’t mind.” The inhabitants, however, certainly did it.
Despite hockey in India offering free tickets for the entire tournament, the stadium of 21,000 inhabitants remained widely empty until the final. The end of 8:15 p.m. The departures meant that many supporters had to go halfway to secure transport at home.
The restriction of the tournament in only two sites – Rourkela and Ranchi – ensured sustainability, but by reducing the attendance of the old one, throw a shadow on what was otherwise a successful company for the federation.
(Tagstotranslate)
