CREDITABLE SHOW.

Women's hockey coach Kaushik proud of his team's silver medal

THE glint of achievement was clearly visible in their eyes.

When the Indian women's hockey team touched down in the Capital after securing qualification for next year's World Cup, one saw a joyous bunch of girls and officials who believed that it may just be the beginning of something special.

Though the team coached by MK Kaushik fell short at the final hurdle in Bangkok, they knew that giving Beijing Olympics silver medalists China a tough fight before going down 3- 5 was a creditable performance.

The focus will now be on next year which features the Delhi Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games in Guangzhou ( China) as well as the World Cup to be staged from August 30- September 12 at Rosario, Argentina. " We made a few mistakes in the final but China is a strong team. Overall, we gave a very good account of ourselves," Kaushik told M AIL T ODAY . He admitted that the team got caught on swift Chinese counter- attacks. " But we couldn't afford to be defensive in our gameplan," the coach said.

Star striker Mamta Kharab was delighted with the performance but said that there was still scope for improvement. " It was a good experience and a result of 100 per cent effort by the team. It was a tough fight in the final but China is technically a very strong team," she said.

" The team has a lot of talent.

Now we need to carry the momentum and continue improving with an eye towards the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. We will play a few warm- up tournaments to get into the groove," the 27- year- old said.

India's next assignment is the Champions Challenge I in June or July. India's attacking brand of hockey, especially their performance against the powerful Koreans in the semi- final, came in for lavish praise.

" It was the best performance by the team during my time as coach," Kaushik said. " We were 3- 0 ahead after 50 minutes. We also capitalised on our penalty corners. If we had played to that level in the final, the result could have been different.

" Indians are naturally attacking players. That's why they love going forward and sometimes may leave gaps in defence." India finished 11th at the last World Cup in Madrid and Kaushik wants to improve the team's standing in a year's time.

" The non- Asian teams are technically much better than us.

Also, we need to make good use of video footage and analysis," skipper Surinder Kaur said.

Kaushik will discuss the possibility of exposure trips to prepare for big events next year and will meet Hockey India officials shortly to discuss the matter.

Due to the renovation work going on at the various stadia in the Capital, the team has not got the opportunity to practice at the Commonwealth Games venues, but Kaushik was not perturbed.

" The Sports Authority of India centres at Bhopal and Patiala have splendid facilities so there is no problem on that count. In any case, the venues will be ready in time and we will be able to practice there for six or seven months," the coach said.

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