HWL final: Dress rehearsal before finals

Captains of all eight teams unveil the World League Finals trophy in Raipur on Thursday.

They’re in Raipur, but with Rio on their minds. An Olympic test event got underway in the host city of next year’s Games a couple of days back. But to all assembled in the Chhattisgarh capital, there’s little doubt where the actual test event is happening. “These teams will be in Rio as well. So this is the real test. A big test,” says India captain Sardar Singh, putting special emphasis on ‘real’ and ‘big’.

On Thursday, the eight captains stood in a semicircle unveiling the World League finals trophy, none taking their eye off it.

The other seven echoed Sardar’s sentiments. In all practical terms, the World League finals, which gets underway on Friday, is the final major tournaments before the Rio Games.

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in Argentina next April, but its proximity to the Olympics means that most teams are likely to send their second string sides. None want to risk injury or fatigue so close to the Games.

So Raipur has become a playground for the year’s top eight teams to test themselves one last time on a big stage, before stepping on the biggest stage of all next year in Rio. It adds a fascinating dimension to the tournament, especially for India who look most stable than they have in last 12 months – both in terms of the coaching staff as well as players.

This time last year, Roelant Oltmans had taken interim charge of a team that was reeling from the shock of seeing Terry Walsh being fired. This year, the Dutchman has been given the full charge, but not before another coach, Paul van Ass, was asked to leave. But Oltmans, who took charge at a precarious time with just a year to the Games, has managed to steady the ship.

India’s resurgence

To be fair, the Indian team has enjoyed a decent run this year, barring the Van Ass episode. The former Holland coach brought structure to the team and with his astute sense of man-management, brought out the best from the players.

Oltmans has continued from where Van Ass left. Under him, the team has made steady progress, winning the test series against New Zealand, Spain and France; and holding Australia 1-1 in a three-match series. But there’s little doubt that the World League finals is his biggest test. It will be clear in the next 10 days how much India has improved in the last four months under Oltmans.

Little surprise, then, that Oltmans is treading carefully, not promising much on the eve of the tournament. “The whole team wants to see the best results but we also know that every game is different and results cannot be predicted,” Oltmans says.

India are ranked sixth in the world as per the latest FIH rankings. It’s the highest they’ve been in nearly a decade. They have languished between ninth and 13th for a major part of the last 10 years. Oltmans isn’t the one who usually refer to rankings. But this, he says, is an indication of progress the team has been making.

Some glimpses were visible during the three-match test series against Australia last week. India, who were swatted by Australia in every meeting, matched their opponent move for move. It’s always risky to judge a team from its performances in friendlies, especially against a world champion team that would not have played all its cards. But there were some takeaways for India.

The coordination between the forwards and communication between the goalkeeper and defence looked much better. Structurally, the team looked solid while fitness too looks a non-issue. However, the inability of the strikers to convert the chances they created continues to remain a concern.

Whether India’s recent resurgence continues during the World League has been one of the biggest talking points in Raipur. But the hosts, by no means, are the favourites.

Eyes on Australia, Holland

That tag, without much surprise, will go to world champions Australia. Graham Reid’s side has added more weight to their stature in the last 18 months, winning the World Cup convincingly and hardly putting a foot wrong since.
They stumbled at the Champions Trophy last year in Bhubaneswar, but that was because the side was in transition.

With an eye on Rio, They have come to Raipur with a full-strength squad, like almost every other team.

In form and with plenty of firepower in their ranks, Holland, too, start as one of the favourites. Under Argentine coach Max Caldas, who replaced Van Ass, the Oranje won the European Championships by thrashing Germany 6-1 in the final. They are contenders for the title not just here, but also are strong favourites for the gold at the Olympics next year.

Germany and Belgium have come with new coaches. Valentin Altenburg has replaced Markus Weise as Germany’s manager while New Zealand’s Shane McLeod takes over Belgium’s reigns from Dutchman Jeroen Delmee. Both teams are using this tournament to get in sync with the new coach’s philosophies ahead of the Games next year.

“It’s difficult to adjust immediately when a new coach comes in. But that’s the reason the World League finals become so important for us. With Olympics so near, this is an important phase for us,” Germany captain Moritz Fuerste says. Fuerste may be talking about Germany, but that goes true for all teams. They may be in Raipur. But all they’re thinking about is Rio.