Amritsar, July 23: National hockey chief coach V J Bhaskaran is working on building physical endurance of the players besides penalty corner conversion at the hockey camp here to select team for Sydney Olympics to be held next year.In today's game, besides skill, physical fitness and stamina are key to success, Bhaskaran said at the astro turf stadium of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) where the Olympic probables were sweating it out.Of the 30 probables who are selected for the camp, all but two - Brian D'Souza and Cheops D'Costa - have reported.Bhaskaran, who refused to comment on the exclusion of Dhanraj Pillay from list of probables, expressed confidence that the present bunch had a lot of talent. ``Though it is too early to access India's chances in Sydney, I have confidence in the boys,'' he said while pointing out that the average age of the probables attending the camp was 23. Bhaskaran claimed that ever since the camp began on June 5, the fitness level and physical endurance of the players had shown improvement. ``The stress here is more on courage,'' he said.Another area where the coaches were giving lot of emphasis was goal-keeping, which has over the years been one of India's weaker points.There are separate training sessions for goal-keepers which involves testing their acrobatic skills, their ability to tackle attackers, block shots aimed at the goal and penalty corners.While talking about the importance of the goal keepers, Bhaskaran observed that the 'keeper was now more than the last defender. ``He is now the first defender and has to be more agile,'' he added. Asked whether any particular player or players had caught his eyes, Bhaskaran quipped that all the boys were doing well.The shortlisting of the probables would be done at a latter stage and it would not be appropriate right now to access individual performances, he added.Bhaskaran said there were no cases of players being physically unfit or suffering from any injury. Initially, the boys had some problems adjusting to the heat but now after rainfall, the conditions had become better, he added.The coaches also expressed satisfaction with the facilities being provided by the University, particularly the cooperation being shown by the University sports director Kawaljit Singh. The camp will conclude on July 30.
