RAJGIR: At some level, India's Asia Cup begins on Wednesday. They have done away with the business of the preliminary group stage fixtures. From Wednesday, the top four teams from the eight here will face each other before the summit clash over the weekend. The hosts know they ought to win the tournament and rubber-stamp their spot in next year's World Cup.
They have been the dominant force in Asian hockey for at least the last decade as the likes of Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia have been left behind. Since the 2016 Olympics, they have been the only ever present Asian outfit at the quadrennial event. Needless to say, they are also the only Asian side to have medalled at the Summer Games since 2004.
But they will do well to heed the lessons of the first stage. For a team whose mantra is 'defend to win', they have continued to be worryingly open at the back for over an extended duration. That has continued at Rajgir. China scored three, Japan scored two and the hosts could have easily drawn at least one of those games on another day.
Now, some teething problems were expected. It was just natural when a goalkeeper of the calibre of PR Sreejesh announced his retirement. But Krishan Pathak has been below his best, some of the senior defenders have made some big mistakes and they have had the propensity to lose the last quarter... these were some of the issues that plagued the Indian team during the European leg of the Pro League when they lost seven out of eight.
That trend has continued here. Against both China and Japan, they lost the last quarter, made some telling mistakes and couldn't regain control as quickly as they would have liked. Even if the stifling conditions as well as the slowness of the turf has contributed to that, the Indian team will know that they cannot repeat the same pattern when the Super 4s stage of the tournament begins on Wednesday.
Coach Craig Fulton, feeling the pressure to win after a slightly indifferent Summer, said that the game against Kazakhstan on Monday (the hosts won 15-0) came at the right time. "We had enough training in the areas we wanted to improve; this game (against Kazakhstan) came at the right time because it gave us a lot more focus on the final third. Players are feeling a bit more confident, and have a bit more feel of working together. That was lacking, I think, in the other two games.
"It is nice to get through the pool phase without any injuries. Especially in a game like the one yesterday (against Kazakhstan) but two good games in the afternoon, in warm conditions, changes when we come back to play at night. The energy is really high in the team. Back-to-back wins, I think, was refreshing for everyone. Now we are on to the next challenge in the tournament. We will have a fresh approach for this phase. We play (South) Korea first. We scored some really good goals against Kazakhstan, leading the game from the front, that was most important," the South African explained.
The support staff will hope that their players have taken out all the errors from out of the system and play like Asia's best.
Wednesday's matches
Classification: Japan vs Chinese Taipei 2.30 PM
Super 4s: Malaysia vs China 5.00 PM, India vs South Korea 7.30 PM
