Apart from winning the title, it was a test more for coach Graham Reid’s planning in his first competitive outing with the Indian side.
Even before the Hockey Series Finals began in Bhubaneswar recently, the talk was all about India’s performance and how comprehensively it could win against the opponents, the highest of whom was ranked 11 places behind the host. Not winning was not an option; a loss would have been disastrous.
Eventually, the top-two sides met in the title clash, India hammering 16thrankedSouthAfrica 5-1 for an easy win. For once, though,winning the finalwas not the real target; both finalists advance to the Olympic qualifiers. For the players, winning was important, mentally, after repeatedly fumbling in knockouts and finals in the last few months. But it was a test more for coach Graham Reid’s planning in his first competitive outing with the Indian side.
Winning also gave India crucial points which would become important when the FIH resets its rankings after September and draws up the pairings for the best-of-two encounters in the Olympic qualifiers.
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