"I love to be challenged" - Women's hockey coach Harendra Singh addresses Chinese hurdle, sets sights on 2026 WC qualification & beyond [Exclusive]

Harendra Singh remains supremely confident about India's chances of qualifying for the 2026 FIH Women's World Cup, despite losing the Asia Cup final to China. India went down to China 1-4 in the final of the Asia Cup in Hangzhou after having lost to the hosts by an identical margin in the Super 4s pool phase of the competition.

As winners of the tournament, the Chinese girls booked a place for themselves in next year's World Cup, while India will need to play the qualifiers in February.

During an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Harendra Singh stressed that the absence of key drag-flicker Deepika played a huge role in the team's inability to prevail against the Olympic silver medalists. The veteran coach also addressed the hurdle posed by the Chinese girls, who have proven to be a nemesis for the Indian women's hockey team in recent times.

India's Asia Cup chances suffered a jolt even before the team departed for China, with Deepika sustaining an injury which ruled her out of the competition. Over the last couple of years, the 21-year-old has been the mainstay of the Indian attack in terms of goalscoring both from open play and from penalty corners.

Harendra Singh shed light on the feeling of uncertainty within the team, even as the Indians attempted to come to terms with Deepika's absence for the crucial tournament. He lauded Navneet Kaur and Udita for shouldering the responsibility of taking the penalty corners while having to practise their slap shot routines at short notice.

"Deepika is our main drag-flicker and could not travel with the team because of an injury she sustained on the last day of training before we flew to China. That caused a lot of distress in the side since we had not planned for such an eventuality, given the timing of the injury. Navneet and Udita stepped up and practised their penalty corner slap shots. in a short span of five days," Harendra Singh explained.

Harendra Singh acknowledged that it was disheartening to fall short in a mission which involved booking a direct ticket for the World Cup.

"As a coach, I am not too satisfied with the silver medal. We trained for six weeks and the mission was to get a ticket for the World Cup," he declared.

The former India international reasoned that the scoreline against China was not a true reflection of the closeness of the Asia Cup gold-medal match, backing up his argument with data from the team analysts.

"We were competitive until the third quarter - but after conceding the second goal, the team went on the offensive to get the equaliser. We unnecessarily conceded two goals to Chinese counterattacks. As a result of those goals, the margin appears to show an uneven contest, which is not the case in reality," the 55-year-old reasoned.

"According to the data from our analysts, we were almost on par with the Chinese in terms of the number of penalty corners, circle penetrations and shots on goal. The quality of the shots on target for the Chinese was, however, superior to ours," he elucidated.

For Harendra Singh, who worked with the USA men's side following a stint with both the Indian men's and women's teams (in 2017-18), accepting the "challenge" of coaching the Indian girls for a second time did not require any deliberation.

"I love to be challenged. How one deals with the challenges of the opposition is what's most important. When I was approached by the Indian team management to take over the reins of the women's side last year (after Janneke Schopman's departure), I did not hesitate even for a second. Coaching one's home team is special," he disclosed.

"The way Bichu Devi stepped in for the Asia Cup is worthy of applause" - Harendra Singh

Bichu Devi displayed her prowess in Savita Punia's absence: Bichu Kharibam on Meta

The coach who guided the Indian colts to a gold-medal win in the 2016 Junior World Cup delved into the specifics of what transpired in the Asia Cup final.

With the score at 1-1, the Indians, who earned a Sunelita Toppo-inspired penalty corner midway through the third quarter, were caught unaware as Li Hong turned defence into attack for the Chinese with a stunning solo run. Hong made it to the attacking circle, pretty much unchallenged, before unleashing a powerful strike from the edge of the circle that beat Bichu Devi's outstretched kickers.

Harendra Singh focused on the need to switch from zonal marking to man-to-man marking, which the Indian defenders failed to do, thus conceding the crucial goal off the counterattack.

"Had we continued playing the way we were without conceding the goals on the counter, we could, possibly, have forced a shootout with an equaliser. Switching from zonal marking to man-to-man marking is an area that needs improvement. The last phase of passing inside the opponent's circle is another technicality that needs to be worked on," Harendra Singh observed.

"Despite being a young team, we are very much formidable and we are totally confident of coming through in the World Cup qualifiers. All the team needs is a bit of polishing and more resilience on the pitch," he contended.

An injury to ace goalkeeper Savita Punia meant that young Bichu Devi Kharibam guarded the Indian citadel for the entire duration during the high-pressure matches in the Asia Cup. The 24-year-old came up with some incredible saves during the competition, earning the respect of her teammates and the coaching staff.

"Filling Savita Punia's shoes is not an easy task for any goalkeeper. The way Bichu Devi stepped up in the Asia Cup is worthy of applause. She has earned the respect of the team and the coaching staff as well. I salute the manner in which Bichu Devi handled the pressure," the coach from Chappra, Bihar stated.

Harendra Singh emphasised that the goal orchestrated by Li Hong's counterattack should have been stopped by a defender since the Indian custodian was covering the angles she was supposed to.

"The goal scored by China on the counter could have been stopped by one of the defenders - but it was unreasonable to expect Bichu Devi to have stopped that goal. She was covering the centre and the first angle, which a goalkeeper is supposed to do while attempting to stop a counterattack of the kind," Harendra Singh argued.

The Indians have a short time to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which will follow the Hockey India League matches. Yet another big-ticket clash with China is on the cards at next year's Asian Games, even as Harendra Singh's chargers attempt to tilt the scales against their continental rivals with an Olympic berth at stake.