Oltmans eying long term goal

Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: Indian coach Roelant Oltmans is satisfied with the team’s performance in the Champions Trophy so far. “We have performed well – lost a couple of close games and won a thrilling match. But our focus is not on one match or tournament. Rather we are focusing on the long run and preparing a strong team for the future,” stated Oltmans here Wednesday.  “We have shown that we have the talent to beat the best teams in the world,” he added.

Skipper Sardar Singh was also in unison with Oltmans. “See, we have a lot of youngsters in our team. They have to be nurtured very carefully. So that we can prepare a strong team for the future,” stated Sardar. “The youngsters are talented. They just need a bit of experience and exposure at this level to perform according to their potential,” added an affable Sardar.

Oltmans backed India team to do well against Belgium in the quarterfinals. “They have improved a lot since last couple of years and performed consistently. We are also gaining momentum in the tournament. If we perform according to our potential then I won’t be surprised if we win comfortably,” pointed out Oltmans.

Talking about India’s persistence problem of conceding late goals, Oltmans said, “Look in the last match against the Netherlands, they were down by 1-3. So they went all out and got a goal. For this the defenders shouldn’t be blamed,” stated Oltmans.

However, he expressed satisfaction at the performance of the defenders but stated that conversion of penalty corners was not up to the mark. “In this area of the game, we have improved by leaps and bounds. The worrying issue however is the inability to convert penalty corners on a consistent basis,” signed off Oltmans.