Indian team's coach Joaquim Carvalho expressed confidence that he would achieve his goal of guiding India to the Beijing Olympics.
HYDERABAD: Aiming to earn a Beijing Olympic berth, a confident India men's hockey team will have three preparatory camps and a couple of practice matches before embarking on the vital qualifying tournament to be held in Santiago, Chile, in April next year.
Indian team's coach Joaquim Carvalho expressed confidence that he would achieve his goal of guiding India to the Beijing Olympics.
He said the team is on course for the aim after achieving three podium finishes, including the Asia Cup triumph in Chennai.
The first camp, with about 50 players, will start in Bangalore on November 5 and will be of one-month duration.
"I assessed some under-21 players at a camp in Bangalore last month. Based on their performance, I have picked 12 boys for the senior camp. The future of Indian hockey rests with these boys. I will be working with them and they will learn a lot playing alongside the seniors in the first preparatory camp," Carvalho told PTI.
Thirty three players will attend the second camp. The final camp would be organised at venues where the Premier Hockey League (PHL) is to be held.
The PHL is scheduled to be held from December 15 to January 15 while the final camp will be organised from January 10 to 22.
"Our final camp will include a few matches with the Australian team or against the USA where the training facilities are excellent," Carvalho said.
"The campers will not be figuring the best of three finals of the PHL and they will undergo the 13-day rigorous camp at the PHL venue before leaving India on the tour," he said.
On the Olympics qualifiers, he said, "England and Egypt are the tough teams in our group. Our aim is to beat these teams. Also the preparation will revolve around acclimatizing to the weather in Santiago."
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