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Buoyed by their good showing in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Indian women’s hockey team’s chief coach Neil Hawgood is eying a top-two finish in the upcoming Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4.
The Australian is eager to better his wards fifth place finish in the Commonwealth Games. “The Commonwealth Games were a big improvement. We wanted to secure the fourth position but had to satisfy ourselves with the fifth spot. But this time (in Asian Games) we wish to reach the finals,” Hawgood said during an interaction with the media at the sidelines of the team’s training session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Wednesday.
Hawgood considers the Asian Games a “big challenge” for the Indian eves considering the fact that they haven’t played Asian powerhouses like China and Korea for more than a year.
“We have played a lot of European teams in the last few months and it has been a good experience for the team.
“But we haven’t played Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea in the last 12 months and it is going to be a big challenge for us (in the Asian Games). China and Korea are major threats to us,” the coach said.
India captain Ritu Rani feels the team will be high on confidence in Incheon especially after their improved showing in the Glasgow Games.
“We have been working hard for the Asian Games and the preparation is very good. Our confidence is high. The performance at the Commonwealth Games boosted our morale,” said Ritu.
“We will be aiming for the gold medal as an event like Asian Games comes once in four years and we do not want to leave any stone unturned,” she added. The captain also wants to see improvement from her players in areas like field goals.
“Our main focus will be on scoring more field goals. We are also hoping that our drag flickers covert more and more penalty corner opportunities that come our way,” Ritu said.
“Youngsters have been given opportunity and we hope that they will be able to score more goals. “We also want to rectify our minor mistakes that we committed at the Commonwealth Games.”
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