India Look to Return to Winning Ways at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
India have three points from two matches at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, having lost to Australia and won against Japan. The Sardar Singh-led side faces Canada next
Highlights
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India lost 1-5 to Australia in the previous match
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India were without Manpreet Singh in the first match
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India defeated Japan 2-1 in the first match
India, bolstered by the return of midfielder Manpreet Singh, will seek to dominate the hard-tackling Canada tomorrow and boost their standing in the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here. (Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Dominant Australia Inflict 5-1 Thrashing on India)
The bereaved Manpreet returned from India after his father's funeral to join his teammates for a training session this morning, giving coach Roelant Oltmans some options of tackling the rivals, who today overtook India on the round-robin league standings.
Canada defeated Japan 3-1 to take their points tally to four from three outings, having lost 1-3 to Pakistan and holding defending champions New Zealand to a 1-1 draw.
India have three points from two matches, having defeated Japan 2-1 in their opening outings and then suffering a 1-5 defeat by World champions Australia.
Manpreet brings a lot of stability to the India's game-plan as he often takes up the centre-half's duties from Indian captain Sardar Singh when the team is seeking to dominate. When under pressure, Manpreet is adept at playing a deep defender's role and falls back to be the third full-back.
The news of his father's demise reached Manpreet just hours before India's opening fixture on Wednesday. He left for home just as the Indian team stepped on to the turf wearing black arm bands and observed a minute's silence.
In Manpreet's absence, the Indian midfield lost its semblance of competitiveness against World champions Australia in the last outing.
The Canadians have often proved to be troublesome to the Indians as they pack the defence and bank on quick counter-attacks to exert pressure on the rival citadel.
Defending against the quick turnovers has been problem for India and coach Oltmans is seeking to teach the young players in the squad ways to plug the gaps when falling back to defend on counters.
India's last encounter with Canada was a year ago here at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup when India prevailed 5-3.
This is the first time the Indian team under coach Oltmans will be taking on Canada, who no longer claim to be the Pan American champions, but are among the four teams at this tournament to have qualified for the Olympics at Rio de Janeiro.