Pakistan out to erase bitter memories of Kuala Lumpur
By Shazad Ali
KARACHI, April 28: Pakistan look to erase bitter memories of competition's last edition when they face arch-foes India at Junior Asia Cup hockey final on Thursday with an interesting duel being anticipated between penalty corner executioners.
Although two sides have forward-lines that could rattle their opponents, Pakistan short corner specialist Imran Warsi and Sandeep Singh of India will be watched keenly at Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP).
Pakistan will also have to shrug off nightmarish memory of last year's seven-nation Challenge Open's league game in the Polish city of Gniezno where Sandeep propelled India to a thumping 5-0 victory, scoring all the five goals.
Indian forwards will have to use all their resources since Sandeep has been effectively checked by Bangladesh, Malaysia in the league matches, and South Korea in the semifinal.
The sturdy Indian full-back, however, still poses a great threat to Pakistan as the 19-year-old has variety of pushes in his armoury, especially his deadly along-the-carpet push which is becoming his trademark.
India coach Harendra Singh too agrees that Imran and Sandeep are the major weapons for both sides who will play a key role in the final. "Imran (Warsi) and Sandeep (Singh) will be definitely the major weapons for the two sides as penalty corners strikers will play key role in the final. But as far as Sandeep is concerned, we will not totally depend on him.
"Our forwards did not click against South Korea in the semifinal, but they scored at will in other matches. We will also utilise them as we cannot depend on only one player," he said.
And indeed Pakistan have to map out an effective plan to contain India's Sandeep Micheal, Tushar Khandker and Hari Prasad if they want to restore their pride after a miserable fifth place in 2000 in Kuala Lumpur.
But Harendra was also impressed with the Pakistani forwards whom he though have jelled into a lively and attacking unit. "Apart from Sandeep and Imran, our midfield and Pakistan's forwards are the strong points of the two sides."
For Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa, the victory should not be as difficult as it seems. The reason being a year and half run-up to the ten-nation tournament and advantage of playing in his own backyard in front of home crowd.
A psychological edge India have being junior world champions seemed to be vanished when Harendra said his team was devoid of players who won 2001 Junior World Cup in Hobart, Sydney.
"We are the world champions, but the fact is all the World Cup-winning members are now in senior side. We don't have a single player from that squad," Indian coach said.
However, result could not be as pleasing for the fans as they are expecting if Asif's side showed the kind of slackness it displayed near the end of league game against South Korea and semifinal against Malaysia.
"I hope boys will not be as over-enthusiastic in the final as they were against Malaysia. They missed so many chances in the excitement of achieving victory," says Asif.
Harendra says his side has no more experience than Pakistan since it is also formed in October 2002 - the same month and year when Pakistan team was raised. The only difference, the coach says, is the international exposure provided by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) to the juniors by fielding them along with the seniors.
"The notion that we are an experienced team is wrong. Our team has been formed in October 2002 when Pakistan raised their's. The only difference between us and Pakistan is that our players were included in the senior side to gain exposure recently at Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year," he said.
Harendra, however, was not ready to predict victory at the final, saying both teams were balanced and whoever availed the goal-scoring chances would lift the cup. "It is difficult to predict. The team which will avail the chance will win the title," he opined.
If one goes by history, Pakistan seemed to have upper hand over India in the tournament. The green shirts won a league game 3-0 against India in 1987-88 at HCP and retained the title with 5-4 penalty shootout win in 1996 in Singapore. India, however, defeated Pakistan 2-0 at a four-nation's league game in Kuala Lumpur and drew 1-1 at Akhbar El-Youm league tie in Cairo last year.
