The Spanish coach has made very apt comments about the state of affairs in Indian Hockey worth giving a lot of thought and points to ponder over how to give real boost to our Hockey to come back a force to reckon with in the world arena. We r fortunate to have Mr. Hendriks as a consultant for PHL who has seen the level of hockey our top teams and players have played in the PHL format from very close quarters and over so many matches. We must thank him and be indebted to him for having given very candid comments about the standard of hockey he has seen here at the top level and also given so many suggestions while he could have easily given some pleasing comments which wud have tickled our senses. It was very clear that most of the foreign players particularly from the european countries and even Pakis were superior in skills who clearly gave the tournament more competitive edge in raising quality of the game and the Tourney. Most of them set up and create the chances for goals and could also convert them when opportunities came their ways. While we also boast of many world class players who honoured the tourney with their presence, overall standard of game was found to be below world standards many times with dullish, defensive and unimaginative play may be due to the fear of early loss of their chances with a good prize money never seen before in Hockey. While we must sit up and take notice of the shortcomings pointed out by a wise gentlemna of the game, it is not loose sight that the PHL has definitely all the elements of giving a major boost to our Hockey standard at the same time we have to create adequate infrastrcuture and congenial conditions all over India,tap talents latent in the corners of the country irrespective of their economic and social status, give enough hope, confidence to the young boys and girls from very early stages and their families for name,fame and money if India is to make a mark again at the world level lost for a pretty long time. sukalp, hyd
