Milosevic in bunker in eastern Serbia – opposition

“I am not a believer in luck – good or bad. We have to consolidate the gains that we made in Sydney and remove the defects that still remain,” he said.

Gill said “Where we lost out was not in training but at playing atleast four matches in peak condition. We have played only two and a half at that level”.

According to him, the team suffered from five major failings before going to Australia. They were: Conceding a goal in the very first or second minute; allowing an equaliser to be scored in the dying minutes; poor goal keeping; poor execution of penalty corners and killer instinct in the rivals’ 25-yard area.

Gill said the team improved in atleast three areas namely not allowing a goal to be scored in the opening minutes, goal keeping and conversion of penalty corners.

He said the defence of penalty corners was excellent at Sydney with the Indian team saving 91 per cent of the shots taken against

More than a psychologist, the IHF chief saw the need for expert with science background for attending to the needs of players’ in special circustances like in case of rain, what type of stick to use and what shirts and shoes to wear so that they play well with minimum of discomfort.

“You need a psychologist only when you are not able to play in peak form over a sustained period of time,” he said.

Gill said earlier the team had a mindset that did not think of a gold medal. “Now they have it because they have begun to have confidence in themselves once again.”

Whatever the result at Sydney, Gill said “The greatest gain has been the realisation, not only in India but in the whole hockey playing world, that we have an excellent team”.

He did not rule out the dropping of some players who were getting on in years and some others who had slowed down, and referring to some good players in the junior team, added “We are in a very happy situation with replacements there”.

There, however, will be no change in the coach and Vasudevan Baskaran will continue in that post, the IHF chief said.

About the appointment of a foreign coach, he said, he was awaiting a panel of names from the international hockey federation (FIH) and “once we receive it, we will pick one person”.

Gill clarified that the foreign coach will assist the Indian coach and not replace him.

Reiterating 2008 Olympic Games were the ultimate target, Gill said IHF’s immediate objective was the World Cup qualifier to be held in Scotland in July next year.

He said it would be cold and raining in Scotland at that time of the year and “We should be able to match those conditions in India till February”.

International tourney from 2001

NEW DELHI: As part of platinum jubilee celebrations, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) will host an international tournament next year.

Not less than six nations will participate in the tournament which will become an annual feature, Gill informed.

Though he did not specify the venue, Delhi is expected to be chosen as it has two synthetic turfs, one each at National Stadium and Shivaji Stadium, with both requiring replacements.

With “bad experiences” it had with others holding international tournaments in this country, Gill said IHF had decided to conduct the tournaments itself from now on.

About the coming together of the two bodies running men’s hockey and women’s hockey in the country, Gill said IHF had written to its women’s counterpart to formalise the merger.