New Delhi: Ever since Harendra Singh joined the Indian women’s hockey team a year back, the chief coach has stressed on bettering the conversion rate in the striking circle.
While the forwards do their best to score field goals, a team can only reach the top with the finest drag-flickers which had gone missing from the Indian setup. While Gurjit Kaur did the job for India in the past, especially in the run-up and during Tokyo Olympics, India’s goal scoring rate during penalty corners (PC) has gone down drastically in recent times.
Harendra’s main aim since joining the team last summer was to build a pool of drag-flickers who could make the difference in the most important moments of matches and tournaments. The 55-year-old first roped in former India drag-flicker and Olympic bronze medallist Rupinder Pal Singh to hone the skills of the 5-6 PC specialists chosen by him.
Harendra then brought in Dutch drag-flick legend Taeke Taekema to convert the drag-flickers into a potent force.
“Taeke is permanently with us. Whenever our camp starts, he always comes for two weeks. He is also going to join us in London,” said Harendra.
“We don’t have a full time drag-flick coach because if you are drag-flicking all the time, the chances of injury really increases. So, you don’t require it everyday. Otherwise, there is a high percentage of the glute and groin getting injured.”
To further improve the Indian drag-flickers skills, Harendra had sent Deepika Sehrawat and Manisha Chauhan for a 10-day camp to Amsterdam under Dutch penalty corner expert Toon Siepman. The drag-flick trainer is also the coach of 2024 FIH Player of the Year and Olympic gold medallist Yibbi Jansen of the Netherlands, who top-scored with nine goals at the Paris Games last year.
“Deepika and Manisha went to Amsterdam 10 days before the rest of the team to train under Siepman, who is one of the world’s best drag-flick coaches. We joined them in the Netherlands,” said Harendra.
The team will train in the Dutch city till June 8 before heading to London for their first four matches against Australia and Argentina in the European leg of the Pro League. India will first take on Australia on June 14 and 15 followed by matches against Argentina on June 17 and 18.
The team will then travel to Antwerp for their next two matches against Belgium on June 21 and 22 before concluding the tour with two matches against China on June 28 and 29 in Berlin.