‘Indian girls have the mental strength to beat South Africa’

Indian women’s hockey coach C.R. Kumar said Friday the team has the mental strength to overcome South Africa in Saturday’s final despite going down 2-5 in the pool match of the 2012 London Olympic qualifiers.

“The players have the mental strength to come out of that defeat. The girls don’t think much about the past. We have been taking one match at a time in the tournament. So the final will be a fresh start for us. In the last match we gave lot of room to South Africa. We will try to minimise on the mistake and cramp them with room. The idea is to play compact hockey,” said Kumar after the team beat Italy 1-0 in a hard-fought match at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here.

The coach was happy with India’s performance against the defensive Italians.

“We made several penetrations in the first half but unfortunately we couldn’t score. Italy knew they needed just a draw and they played for it. They seldom attacked our goal so we got very little space inside the circle. But what was important was a win and the scoreline doesn’t matter. I am happy with the result,” he said.

Kumar said the win will give a boost to the girls when they face South Africa, who are ranked a spot above India at World No.12.

“Today’s win will motivate the team ahead of the final against South Africa. The players know tomorrow’s match will the final game of the tournament so they will give their full energy in the match,” he said.

The coach, however, was concerned with India’s inability to convert penalty corners.

“Trapping penalty corners is a concern for us. But we are not the only team facing this problem on this front. Others teams have faced this problems too,” he said.