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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, OCT 2: The quality of competition at the 31st National Junior Women’s Hockey Championship, which concluded on Thursday, may not be much to crow about, barring the absorbing final. But National coach PP Anthony, who camped here to scout talent, was satisfied. He said he will return to base — SAI Centre, Bangalore — with 15-17 probables.
Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “I already have a nucleus of 20-22 girls who recently won the FIH Four-Nation Tournament in USA. Adding these girls, I will have a group of 35-40 girls at the month-long Bangalore camp starting on October 20. I should prune the list of probables to 20-22.”
Anthony said he had forwarded a list of the probables to the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF). “I was looking for tall and athletic girls with greater stamina and stretching abilities. Of course, they should also know a bit of hockey, otherwise they would not be here.”
The girls will first be tested against some tough opponents: senior women from Asiannations. “The Asia Cup Women’s Championship begins in New Delhi from December one. Since teams will start arriving here on November 24 for acclimatisation, my girls will get a few practice matches against them. We will then know where we stand.”
This build-up, that started in May, is to climax with the Asian Cup juniors next September, a qualifying event for the 2001 World Junior Cup in Argentina. The government has allotted him two tours for international exposure and 100 days of coaching camps per year to tune up a fit squad.
While Anthony does not worry about the girls from Punjab, who have “great fighting spirit,” his job is to mentally prepare the girls from Orissa and Bihar, who can be “suppressed”.
