Seniors will help the team: Gagan

Last year saw the coming of age of Indian hockey forward Gagan Ajit Singh. The opportunistic striker8217;s poaching skills were at peak dur...

Last year saw the coming of age of Indian hockey forward Gagan Ajit Singh. The opportunistic striker8217;s poaching skills were at peak during India8217;s historic win over Pakistan at Amstelveen in the 2003 Champions Trophy. Gagan once again proved to be Pakistan8217;s bete noire during the Afro-Asian Games final and played a big role in India getting the gold medal.

In a freewheeling chat with The Indian Express, Gagan, who won the Hero Indian Sports Academy HISA award for his outstanding performance in 2003, at Hyderabad last night, spoke about his hits-and-misses and the goals ahead. Excerpts:

On winning the HISA award: I wasn8217;t expecting to win it, really. All four of us who were nominated 8212; including Dhanraj Pillay, Devesh Chauhan and Baljit Singh Dhillon 8212; had done well last year and it was a close affair. However, it turned out to be a double delight in the end with our hockey team also winning the the 8216;Team of the Year8217; award.

On Dhanraj controversy: It was blown out of proportion by everyone. Federation IHF never declared he Pillay would not be taken for Olympics. He might have been rested for a few games. Having seniors in the team always helps, especially when it comes to guiding the youngsters.

On mission Athens: We stand a good chance. These forthcoming conditioning camps in Germany will help us a lot. Australia are a tough nut to crack and so are the Netherlands. But we hope to do well. Our team has a good blend of youth and experience.

On bench strength: Players like Sandeep Singh have impressed everyone in recent times but they still have a long way to go. For any team8217;s success, a good bench strength is necessary and, with the way juniors are performing these days, the future of Indian hockey augurs well.

On drawbacks: We need to improve our fitness level in order to beat teams like Australia. As far as my own game is concerned, I need to improve my outside-the-D game.

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On his reverse flick: I am working very hard on it for quite sometime now and will put it to use in the coming tournaments.

On his lucky charm: I always keep a piece of red cloth in my pocket, while playing and otherwise too. I have it now as well. Also, I believe marriage has worked wonders for me. My wife Ajna has really stood by me in testing times.

On his 8216;goals8217; ahead: So far, I have scored 96 goals from 146 matches. Last year, I scored 20, and have set a goal of 30 for myself this season.