CHANDIGARH (India), March 1: The fall of traditional Asian hockey giants – India and Pakistan – does not mean that standards of the game have fallen in the continent, feels Spain national team coach Maurits Hendricks.

Rather slump of South Asian powerhouses has signalled end of their domination and other teams have climbed up.

“Today India and Pakistan can no longer claim to be major hockey forces of Asia. There were times when both sub-continental teams along with Malaysia ruled the game in the continent, but not now.

“Teams like South Korea, China and Japan have made great improvement in last few years. In fact South Korea have performed much better than India and Pakistan, while Japan too are moving up in world rankings,” says Hendricks, who is here to watch closing of India Premier Hockey League (PHL).

He says now India and Pakistan cannot afford to take their opponents from the continent lightly, especially taking results of 15th Asian Games into consideration where India finished out of medal tally for the first time and Pakistan ended at third place. South Korea and China shared first and second positions, while Japan finished fourth.

The change of power equations is good for the game, observed Spain coach, since it means hockey is there to stay. “We can now see hockey growing more competitive in Asia. You can now never be sure about winners in any major continental tourney like Asian Games or Asia Cup,” says Hendricks, who is PHL consultant.

Asked about miserable performance by Indian team in 2006 which saw it finish 11th in World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany, and sixth in 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, International Hockey Federation (FIH) master coach says India are playing poorly for last 10 years.

“India are no longer what they used to be. Their poor show last year was no exception as they haven't shown any great results in international arena in last few years, barring one or two events.”—PPI