After having faced a 1-3 defeat against Netherlands, India would be looking to regain its winning form in the next match, that is, the quarter-final of the Hockey World League Semi-Final on Thursday. In the tournament before, India had registered three consecutive wins against Scotland, Canada and arch-rivals Pakistan. However, after the loss against Netherlands, India finished second at the end in Pool B Netherlands being on the first position.
The Indian team in the last match missed many scoring chances. But these mistakes cannot be afforded against Malaysia in the quarter finals as it would lead to elimination. Coach Oltmans feels that it was the toughest match in the group stage and that the boys made a comeback but it was too late. “This was our toughest match in the group and we had our chances, too. The good thing is that we came back after being 3-0 down but we didn’t do enough and got punished,” said the coach.
World No. 6 team, having an in-form striker Akashdeep Singh with the support of SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh and Mandeep Singh will take on the Malaysians on Thursday who are currently placed at 14th rank.
The defence of India is a bit inexperienced and needs to work hard in this important match along with the midfield led by Sardar Singh and Manpreet Singh.