Bhubaneswar, June 13
A tricky semifinal clash against surprise Asian Games champions Japan awaits India but home advantage gives Manpreet Singh and his men the upper hand here tomorrow.
After having eased past ‘minnows’ in the pool stage, India will face their first real challenge in their quest to reach the final of the FIH Series Finals, which assures a place in the last Olympics qualifying stage.
India notched up 10-0 wins over Russia and Uzbekistan and beat Poland 3-1. However, India, under new chief coach Graham Reid, are yet to showcase their perfect game on the turf. “I am happy that we created plenty of chances but we need to work on our basic skills like finishing. It is an area where we need improvement,” Reid said.
While India have had it easy, Japan have come through a tougher pool, and have played one match more than the hosts. They have improved with each match, with their best performance coming in the crossover, which they won 6-2 against Poland. — PTI
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2XJm4S9
via Today’s News Headlines
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