Sandeep happy with Canada tour results

New Delhi, Nov 4 : With the Indian hockey team performing well on their recently concluded Canada tour, skipper Sandeep Singh asserted that the players are raring to register a good showing in the three major events next year.

The tour to Canada, which was used by chief coach Jose Brasa as a preparatory event for the hockey World Cup in New Delhi in February-March next year, saw the Indians emerge 6-0 winners.

India will also be hosting the Commonwealth Games next October with the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November.

Sandeep, however, asked the media and the fans not to have too high expectations which will put added pressure on the players and may adversely affect their performance.

''We are performing well and working very hard to put up a good performance in the three majors events in 2010. I personally feel there should not be too much hype before these events,'' Sandeep told reporters here after the team returned from Canada today.

''I know everyone wants to see India winning on home soil, be it in hockey or cricket. But sometimes with expectations come pressure, which can affect our performance,'' he added.

''We are playing CWG in October and Asiad in November. We have to give our best in both the tournaments and peaking twice in that small gap will hold the key. We are working hard for it.'' Sandeep scored seven goals in Canada and was happy with his performance although he admitted that there is still room for improvement.

''I performed well in Canada but I feel I could have done better.

I am working on wide shots and penalty corner conversion rate,'' the dragflicker said.

The star defender refused to comment on Brasa's new tactics of rotating the captaincy but was happy with the efforts to introduce European style of hockey to the national side.

''It was a new experiment by coach. I think he wanted to judge everyone. I am not against any experiment and I think that I am more mature as a captain now,'' Sandeep said.

''Coach sir (Brasa) is very particular about technical aspects.

We are now playing European style of hockey as all other top teams in the world do. We have to adapt their style to be in the big league,'' he added.

--UNI

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