Sports Authority of India

Indian men’s hockey team went down 2—4 to the Dutch side in their fourth build-up game of the Europe Tour at Naarden in the Netherlands.

The Dutch were in attacking mode right from the start on Thursday night and took the lead in the ninth minute as Mirco Pruyser successfully sliced in a goal.

Glenn Schuurman and Tristan Algera added two more in the 15th and the 28th minutes respectively as the Netherlands led 3—0 till half time.

It was only in the second half that India opened their account and tried to challenge the Dutch. S.K. Uthappa and skipper Sardar Singh sneaked in a goal each in the 37th and 40th minutes respectively to reduce the margin to 3—2.

It was Netherlands’ Billy Baker who stroked in the final goal in the 60th minute and wrapped up the game with a 4—2 scoreline.

This time, the side featuring several young faces prepares for two big events in Europe and captain Sardar Singh, a key member of the team then and now, understands the contrast quite well.

On the eve of the National team’s departure to Europe for some preparatory matches ahead of the World Cup (in The Hague, from May 31 to June 15), Sardar spoke about the challenges.

“Last time, the public support was huge. Playing the World Cup and Commonwealth Games at home was a different feeling. Our players have to be mentally tough while playing abroad in different conditions (this time),” said Sardar after a training session at the National Stadium here on Monday.

Sardar was delighted to get back the services of experienced midfielder Gurbaj Singh at just the right time. “Gurbaj’s presence has boosted the team. Personally, I have a good rapport with him — the eye contact between us is superb.”

“The main aim of the European Tour is to get used to the conditions — the cold weather and faster pitch. A short trip like this (from April 9 to 19) always helps.”

Sardar said that under chief coach Terry Walsh, the players were polishing their skills in several areas. “The best teams in the world do not give you too many chances. We are focusing on tackling, defending, how to play the aerial balls and place the ball with a small swing of the stick. Besides, we are having extended training sessions for the goalkeepers.”

Walsh said the coaching staff was doing its best to get the best out of the ’keepers.

“We are trying to get specialisation in that area. In my view, we have to do a lot in the development area. We are trying to impart much better knowledge to goalkeepers around the country,” said the chief coach.

Reiterating that the European tour will be an opportunity for the players to familiarise with the conditions, Walsh said the players in the camp needed to be rotated.

“We are aware that there are a lot of tournaments this year. We cannot use the same squad in every tournament. We are trying to expose these guys,” he said.

The Indian team will play five matches — including two against The Netherlands, one versus Belgium and two against Dutch clubs — during the tour.

Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta will start as the highest rated Indian in the strong Dubai International open chess tournament that gets underway on Tuesday.

A winner of this tournament in 2011, Gupta recently won the Al-Ain Classic in UAE and the country remains one of his favourite grounds. The Indian is ranked 12th in one of the strongest open tournaments in Asia.

Anton Korobov of Ukraine starts as the top seed. The semifinalist of the last world chess cup had also won the AICF-AAI cup in Delhi in December 2012 and remains a feared opponent.

Apart from Korobov, Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, French duo of Romain Edouarda and Andrei Istratescu, Romanian Constantin Lupulescu and Csaba Balogh of Hungary are other players above 2650 ELO rating in the tournament.

The tournament will be played under FIDE’s Swiss rules and there will be nine rounds in all. The total prize pool is $50,000 out of which the winner will take home $10,000.

As usual, the 16th edition of the Dubai open has attracted a variety of Indian players. There are 30 Indians in the fray in a list that boasts of 160 players currently but is likely to go up by the time the first round starts at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

There are as many as 40 Grandmasters in the fray apart from 22 International Masters, eight Woman Grandmasters and three Woman International Masters making the total number of titled players over 70.

Apart from Gupta, the Indian interest will revolve around Grandmasters M.R. Lalith Babu, Debashish Das, M. Shyam Sundar and Sahaj Grover. International Masters Deeptayan Ghosh, Swapnil Dhopade and Ashwin Jayaram will be looking forward to a performance which will take them closer to the Grandmaster title while the other Indians are all IM norm aspiarants.

The event will be followed by Asian Continental championship in Sharjah. For Gupta and other Indian GMs, it will be crucial to be in good shape for the real test that begins soon after the Dubai open.

“This tournament remains one of my favourite events across the world as the players are taken care off well and the playing conditions are excellent too,” said Gupta while gearing up to play the first round late on Tuesday.

“And it goes without saying that it is indeed one of the strongest open tournament in the continent, all this makes up for an exciting contest that I have always liked to be a part off,” he said.