It didn’t take Harendra Singh long to reacquaint himself with the practices in Indian hockey after spending three years as head coach of the USA men’s team.

Back as the chief coach of the Indian women’s hockey team for a second time, the Dronacharya awardee has been tasked with the huge responsibility of rebuilding the outfit, especially after they failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

In an interview, Harendra talks about the rebuilding phase, where the team lags and how he is building a pool of drag-flickers with LA 2028 as his target among other topics. Excerpts:

It’s been six months since you took charge. How is the team doing especially after missing the Olympics?

I am not new to the system so to get adapted wasn’t that difficult. I was with the girls in the past. Many are familiar with my style of coaching. For me it is always about discipline, dedication and delivering what the team requires. It should not be about ‘me’ but about ‘we’. Whatever the setback was in the past, the girls realised that they couldn’t qualify even though they deserved to be there. We hit the refresh button and are now working hard to achieve our target which I have named ‘Mission 2028’.

India played eight games under you in the Pro League in May-June, losing all. What were your expectations and impressions of the team’s show?

I was expecting results along the same lines to be frank. I had told the girls I wasn’t expecting a miracle. But I wanted to see whether we are improving or not. If you see the first leg in Antwerp and the second leg in London, there was a huge difference. We started closing the gaps to the top teams. We could have won the last three games. The main thing lacking, and really badly, was fitness. With strength and power, every team was playing vertical passes, straightaway attacking which means you require the power in your legs to sustain 60 minutes. That was lacking. They ran out of gas and when oxygen is less your decision-making becomes poor.

Which are the other areas where India is lagging?

If you see the Paris Olympics, the two departments which every team had strengthened were penalty corners (PC) and goalkeeping. We have good players, but we need to work in these two areas as these two departments deliver medals in Olympics. See China, Netherlands or even the Indian men’s team. The way PR Sreejesh and Harmanpreet Singh played helped India win the bronze. PC conversion is not the only thing, PC defending is also an art. Amit Rohidas is the best example who is the first goalkeeper for India. If you beat him, only then does the real goalkeeper get involved. You’ve to work on these processes continuously if you want to win.

Where does India stand in PC defence and attack in comparison to the top teams?

Our PC defence is quite good but that is only one area. We are working on the clearance of indirect passes where we lack and must strengthen. Secondly, there are 5-6 girls with whom I am working on drag-flick which wasn’t there earlier. In the next two years we will have a pool of drag-flickers. Rupinder Pal Singh is helping me. The team needs drag-flickers as PCs are a direct threat. It is the only time you have a chance of hitting a straight goal. If you have good drag-flickers then opponents don’t want to give you PCs which also increases your chances of field goals. We need this balance.

Who are these drag-flickers?

I am working with Deepika, Ropni Kumari, Udita and 2-3 girls from the juniors. I am looking for the physique you need for drag-flick which can be developed. I am not looking whether the player is a drag-flicker or not. I want to start afresh as I want to introduce fresh faces. I will be scouting at the Junior Nationals in Ranchi and the Inter-departmental Nationals in New Delhi.

In Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, China failed to make it out of the group phase. In Paris, they ended with silver. What can we learn from their rise?

First thing is to create a large pool of players which they did and every player was given a platform to perform before the Olympics. Not within China, but outside. They went to Perth to play a four-nation event, held camps, played many practice games against Australian teams. Then they went to Spain where they again played practice matches against European teams. Also, the staff. During the Pro League, I was told by (China assistant coach) Ric Charlesworth that they have more than 28 staff. It was like each player had one staff (laughs). The core group of (chief coach) Alyson Annan, Ric, Adrian (Lock and Taeke Taekema) made China a unit. Their fitness has improved tremendously because of which they played in structure, intercepting passes and directly transferring through vertical passes.

ACT will be your first full tournament since taking charge. What do you think of India’s chances?

I am really excited. It is the first tournament for me. I want to build a strong foundation for the team. It is a chance for the players who lost their confidence after not qualifying for the Olympics, to regain it and regain the trajectory where we want to move towards 2026 and 2028.

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