Antwerp (Belgium): As the Fintro Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 is approaching fast, both India men and women teams are working on their final strategies at their ongoing training sessions in Antwerp, Belgium. Along with the coaches, captains of both the teams are pushing their teammates to adapt with the new atmosphere and team combinations at the earliest, which will help them to achieve their target to finish in the top three at the tournament.

Speaking on the upcoming tournament, men team captain Sardar Singh said, “Till now, everything is going fine and we have achieved satisfactory results in our training sessions and practice matches. The whole team, including the Coaches and Support Staff, has been working hard preparing for this tournament and we have improved a lot in various aspects. We are getting positive results from our new strategies and team combination till now.”

He added, “ It’s unfortunate that we lost to Belgium in our practice match but we have learnt many things about our strategies from that match, which will help us. We are now focussing on our finishing and converting our attacks in goals. With the addition of new and young players, the team combination becomes more flexible, which is helping us to create more options in drawing new strategies. The weather is very cool here and best suited to playing hockey. We are looking forward to the first match and want to start our campaign with a win.”

Speaking post a hectic practice session, women team captain Ritu Rani said, “The FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final is very important for our team. After the Incheon Asian Games, we have been preparing for this tournament and we have tried out various new strategies as well as team combinations in the Hawke’s Bay Cup and our preparatory camps and practice matches. In the match against Japan, we have learnt new aspects of our team combinations and we are working on our mistakes. Our team is improving step by step and rectifying our issues with a planned manner. There are higher-ranked teams in the tournament but we will focus on each match separately by keeping aside the FIH World rankings. Our attention would be implementing the strategies on the field and play according to our plans. We are expecting a positive result from our opening match and we are ready for the challenge.”

Fintro Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 is scheduled on 20th June – 5th July 2015. India Men Team will be seen clashing against France at 09.30 pm IST in their opening match of the tournament on 20 June 2015 while the Women Team will be seen taking on hosts Belgium on the same day at 07.30 pm IST. The matches will be telecasted LIVE on Star Sports.