'Our hard work and discipline paid off'
Lucknow, Dec 19, 2016, DHNS
The first thought on every Indian players mind after winning the Hockey Junior World Cup was to have something sweet. “Kuch meetha kahyenge (we’ll have something sweet),” said Krishan Pathak, the second-choice goalkeeper of the side.
And why shouldn’t it be? The Indian colts not only scarified their comfort zones to prepare themselves for the tournament, but also adopted a different lifestyle and a diet to make a team that would last the distance.
“I would like to thank all the players who had just one goal in mid – to win this trophy,” said their skipper Harjeet Singh as a mob of 18 young men took over the press area for the post-match media briefing.
“Everybody has put in a lot of hard work under discipline. We all had one aim and we thankfully managed to achieve that today.”
The evening also saw their head coach Harendra Singh -- who dedicated the title to his team and the martyrs -- stayed away from the limelight and let his boys' bask in the glory.
Talking more about the final, Harjeet stated that the team was looking for an early breakthrough, and when it came they were keen on defending the lead rather than trying something ‘out of the box’
“We all knew what we have to do in the field, everyone knew their duties. We just concentrated on that and played simple hockey. We played the final like a final. We wanted an early goal, but got it in the eighth minute. Even I didn’t think that would happen. But once we did, our only aim was to defend the lead,” the skipper explained.
On the other hand, Belgian head coach Jeroen Baart felt that their wait-and-watch approach was the biggest mistake that his team did in the final. “India started really well. But my boys didn’t handle the crowd and the atmosphere really well. They were pretty fast. After the initial stages we became more patient. But then the Indians scored the second goal and that changed everything,” the head coach said.
And why shouldn’t it be? The Indian colts not only scarified their comfort zones to prepare themselves for the tournament, but also adopted a different lifestyle and a diet to make a team that would last the distance.
“I would like to thank all the players who had just one goal in mid – to win this trophy,” said their skipper Harjeet Singh as a mob of 18 young men took over the press area for the post-match media briefing.
“Everybody has put in a lot of hard work under discipline. We all had one aim and we thankfully managed to achieve that today.”
The evening also saw their head coach Harendra Singh -- who dedicated the title to his team and the martyrs -- stayed away from the limelight and let his boys' bask in the glory.
Talking more about the final, Harjeet stated that the team was looking for an early breakthrough, and when it came they were keen on defending the lead rather than trying something ‘out of the box’
“We all knew what we have to do in the field, everyone knew their duties. We just concentrated on that and played simple hockey. We played the final like a final. We wanted an early goal, but got it in the eighth minute. Even I didn’t think that would happen. But once we did, our only aim was to defend the lead,” the skipper explained.
On the other hand, Belgian head coach Jeroen Baart felt that their wait-and-watch approach was the biggest mistake that his team did in the final. “India started really well. But my boys didn’t handle the crowd and the atmosphere really well. They were pretty fast. After the initial stages we became more patient. But then the Indians scored the second goal and that changed everything,” the head coach said.
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