India's road to the Hockey World League semis and its importance

The Indian men’s hockey team go into the HWL semis on the back of favourable results

The Indian national hockey teams – men and women – have departed for Belgium to take part in the Hockey World League (HWL) semis, which is to be held from June 20th to July 5th. The HWL is an Olympic qualification tournament with the top 3 teams qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

We take a look at the teams’ record in recent history and how important the HWL is for both:

Men’s team

India have been grouped in Pool A alongside Australia, Pakistan, France and Poland. The men in blue open their campaign against the French on the 20th of June in the opening match of the tournament. They will wrap up their group with a match against top-ranked Australia on June 28th.

Back in 2014, under Sardar Singh’s captaincy, India sealed their spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics by winning the Asian Games, beating Pakistan in the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. So, India could be forgiven for taking the upcoming tournament lightly.

However, the team would like to keep the momentum it build since the debacle at the 2012 Olympics, where it finished 12^th (last). Ever since that shameful finish, India won the Asian Games in 2014 and in doing so became the first team to qualify for Rio Olympics, finished 2^nd at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Asia Cup in 2013. On top of these results, they reached the semis in the 2012 and 2014 Champions Trophy and to cap it all off beat Australia 3-1 in a 4-Test series Down Under.

Playing against top quality opposition at the HWL semis would be a good test for India as they continue their preparations for the Olympics. Under the tutelage of Dutchman Paul van Ass, the Indian team has adopted new tactics, which will be revealed to the world in Belgium. Moreover, Van Ass has been experimenting with a new young side and such a high-profile tournament, where the kids can play without pressure, is a perfect stage to see how the team gets along.

Women’s team

The women’s squad for the HWL semis

India beat Poland 3-1 in the HWL Round 2 in New Delhi to qualify for the semi-final of the tournament in Belgium. They have been paired with Australia, Belgium, New Zealand and Poland in Pool B.

The women play their first match on 20^th June against hosts Belgium. They play New Zealand and Poland before they end their group campaign against Australia on 27^th June. They would do well to finish in the top 2 to avoid the heavyweights of Pool A in the knockout stages.

Unlike the men’s team, they haven’t qualified for the 2016 Olympics as they finished third in the Asian Games beating Japan 2-1 for the bronze medal. So, they need to finish in the top three places at the HWL semis to qualify for the grand event in Rio.

Prior to the HWL, India had a mixed bag of results at the international level. At the 2015 Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand, India finished last (8^th) while they won just 1 match and lost 2 in the 5-match Test series against Italy in December, last year. They failed to reach the semis of the Commonwealth Games, but won both their Test series before the tournament, beating Malaysia in all the 6 matches and winning 2 and drawing the third against Ireland.

However, the Ritu Rani-led side, widely regarded as the team with a lot of potential, needs to fulfill the promise it has shown and clinch the Olympic spot. Coach Mathias Ahrens said, “The team is up for the challenge and we can always qualify (for Rio Olympics). We will go to the tournament next month with all intent to qualify.”

It will be interesting to see how both the teams do. The men’s team because they have already qualified for the Olympics and are trying out new strategies and the women’s team because they need to qualify for Rio while also applying Ahrens’ tactics in the right way.