The 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup is just three days away and national team coach Roelant Oltmans believes that for the Indian boys, sticking to the plan is going to be the key in a tough tournament. Beginning in Lucknow on December 8th, the tournament is being held in Lucknow and will see the best young hockey players in action for a little over a week.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Roelant Oltmans expressed his pleasure about getting to work with the India’s next crop of hockey superstars and seemed quite positive about their mentality. “This is an absolutely fantastic group of boys in my opinion and I am a happy man working with them. Their energy levels are quite high and they are willing to put in the hard work, which is mandatory at this level. We have certain strategies in place and the boys are working in total synchronization with them,” he said.
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Oltmans said that there is no need for anyone to focus on particular individuals and India’s best chance of winning the tournament is through a collective effort. “We have plenty of talent in this team with some exceptional individuals. However, like I always say, for me individuals are not important and it is more about the group. We have Mandeep (Singh), Harmandeep and Armaan Qureshi, who are extremely experienced lads. Moreover, we have been working with this group for a long time now and know them in-and-out,” the Dutchman added.
Australia, Germany and Netherlands will be usual suspects gunning for the title but Oltmans believes the junior level cannot be predicted in the same manner. “It is rather incorrect to draw exact parallels between international and junior hockey. Things can be quite different in junior hockey and you will see plenty of surprises. Having said that, the European sides, along with Australia, are going to be the sides to defeat,” said Oltmans.
While Indian hockey teams, in recent times, have been exceptional in terms of skill and potential but the mental toughness is something that needs to be worked upon. Oltmans said that specialists have been hired to ensure that players are right up there when it comes to mental toughness as well. “There are special psychologists that have been brought into the staff for improving their mental toughness. The more number of matches these kids play, the tougher they are going to become,” he said.
Oltmans said that though the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are important and on the management’s agenda, it is important for players to focus on one tournament at a time. “All tournaments including Junior World Cup, Asian Games and 2018 World Cup will be included in the criteria for picking the team for the Olympics in 2020. It is important for every player to be focused on the task at hand and not think about the future.”
The weather is going to be on the cooler side in Lucknow and Oltmans said it will be important for players to keep warm during the matches. India open their Junior Hockey World Cup campaign on the 8th of December against Canada.
