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Bovelander laments India's poor showing

Harpal Singh Bedi in Utrecht

Famed penalty corner expert Floris Bovelander expressed disapointment over the poor performance of the Indian hockey team in the ongoing 9th World Cup here.

''The Indians missed too many chances,'' he said, adding that in world-level competitions, ''you have to even make use of the half chances, and no team can afford to miss easy openings.''

Asked why he did not come to India for his much-talked about 'penalty corner clinic', the former Dutch expert said ''Well, first time when I was to leave for India, I got a message that the sponsor had backed out. So I had to call off my trip.

''Next time, I was asked to come to India and I made all preparations and just before I was to leave, I was informed that my assignment has been cancelled... I was not given any reason''.

Bovelander, who was a member of the 1990 World Cup and 1996 Olympic gold medal-winning Dutch team, predicted that ''Only the team which can convert its penalty corners will win the World Cup''.

''Look at Australia, Germany, Holland and Spain, all these teams rely on penalty corners and they are in the semis,'' he pointed out.

Bovelander, who scored two goals against Pakistan in the Lahore World Cup final and again, two goals in the Atlanta Olympic final, was of the view that hockey has become very professional and those who refuse to accept this fact will be left far behind. ''There is no chance or future for the amateurs,'' he noted.

The 31-year-old penalty corner expert, who retired from international hockey in 1996 after playing for his country for ten years, said that modern hockey is very demanding, and any team wanting to be at the top should be strong in three basics -- skill, physical fitness and ability to use the ideal space it can create in the rival's defence while defending its own.

He said that in modern times, hockey's stress has been on organised defence and both Australia and Germany are the best example of that in this World Cup.

About the new rules, Bovelander said ''Initally I was against abolishing the off side rule, but now I think it is a good decision as it has opened up the game.''

He admitted that the forwards get undue advantage under the new rule, ''But then, it is for all the sides''.

About penalty corner conversions, he said it is important to have experts who can hit and scoop as well.

''In my time we had two experts, myself and Taco. Taco used to scoop and I used to hit. This was our reason for victory, because there is more variation that way and the rival goalkeeper is always tense, not knowing what is going to come.''

Referring to current players, Bovelander said Pakistan's Sohail Abbas is "a talented player, he is good in the scoop but has no variation.''

Australia's Jay Stacy is ''a perfect example'' of a penalty corner specalist, he can hit and scoop with ease, ''that is why he is among the goals''.

About the Asian style of hockey, Bovelander was of the view that in India and Pakistan there is still some skill left because the majority of the players in the sub-continent still play on grass and ''on grass, to control the ball you need skill.''

Bovelander, however, said skill alone cannot help unless the player has speed and physical fitness. ''India and Pakistan both lack in speed and physical fitness,'' he observed.

He was against coaches who encourage players to protest against the umpire's decision. ''It is not going to help the game and I think that umpires should not allow too much of protests in the field.''

Bovelander, who now runs coaching clinics for children, said the gap between the top teams and others is widening, there are few good teams left. ''I think the international hockey federation (FIH) will have to do something to narrow this gap by starting a long-term development programme.''

He admitted that the standard of the umpiring in this World Cup is not very good. ''This is a very crucial area, and FIH should start working on it to improve the standard of umpiring.''

He said the FIH should amend two more rules to avoid frequent whistling by the umpires. ''One, if a player is taking the ball, and even if it raised a bit, the umpire should not whistle because the natural flow of the game is hampered and also, if one player's stick hits the other's (in a bid to snatch the ball), there is no need to whistle. Too many halts in the game," the Dutch ace argued, "results in loss of spectators' interest.''

He said the FIH has to market the game more vigorously if it wants to make it popular in the world.

Bovelander, however, cautioned that too many changes will be not in the interest of the game.