Focus on fitness and mentality: Harendra Singh | Hockey News – Times of India

Chief coach Harendra keen to lift the profile of women’s hockey
BENGALURU: After the fairy-tale run in Tokyo, India’s women’s hockey team was brought down to earth over the next two-and-half years, even failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics. They are now looking to regain lost ground. To help them back on their feet, Hockey India has roped in the much-experienced Harendra Singh as chief coach.
Harendra has had a love-hate relationship with the powers that be in Indian hockey. He coached national teams for over two decades, including a rollercoaster ride with the national senior men and women’s teams.
He then had a three-year stint with the US women’s team and is now back to fulfill what he calls an “unfinished dream”. He spoke to TOI about the mood in the camp and the road ahead.
Excerpts:
It is over five months since you returned to the women’s team, how has the journey been thus far?
I’m excited to be back. It is ghar wapsi. In 2018 when I was swapped from the women to the men’s team, I left with a dream unfinished. We had started doing well and we were confident of a podium finish at the World Cup that year. Unfortunately, the swap happened. There are no regrets but I’m back to complete what I started.
You have worked with most of the players before…
Most of them are my daughter’s age, so it is like training 33 of my daughters. We have the talent, nobody can deny that, but clearly we must do something different which champion teams do. These girls will one day claim the position they deserve in world hockey.
What is the prime reason for their downslide after Tokyo?
The run-up to Tokyo 2021 was good but the process to build the team for that began in 2017. I think India deserved to be in Paris, unfortunately their fitness was not up to the mark and there were a lot of injuries which were not well taken care of. But we have started the rebuilding process. It’s not going to be easy going from zero to hero, but we will get there. Our job is to get this team to be the fittest and once we achieve that, I can guarantee you we are not far from the top six teams in the world.
When you took over, what was the morale like?
It was really low, very low. The girls were still talking about not qualifying for the Olympics and not doing well at the Asian Games. I sat them down and asked them, ‘Whatever we lost, we lost, can we keep crying and thinking about why we are not here, or do you want to build the dream for 2028?’ Everyone agreed it was time to leave the past behind and look ahead. I had one-to-one meetings, and they all agreed they needed to start working on fitness because they realised if there were shortcomings within, there was no point in blaming anyone else. They are now focused on writing a new chapter at the 2028 LA Games.

What is that one change that you want to bring about?
The biggest change would be mentality because it’s always about mentality and the last-minute decision. It’s not about skill, technical acumen or preparations alone. The thin line between winning and losing is in the head. I want this team to change their mentality and start thinking ahead, take risks, feel responsible individually and make decisions without fear.
The first outing after you took over was the Pro League, where the team did not do well. Your thoughts on that?
Yes, but that was expected. We are settling as a team, looking ahead to the Asian Games and the World Cup, which are the foundation and benchmark for preparations for the Olympics.
Drag flicking has been a big letdown. Is there something specific you plan to work on?
Former drag flick ace Rupinderpal Singh is working with us on this aspect. We have chosen six players and have requested SAI and Hockey India for two more who are good but not in the camp. Today, without drag flickers and good goalkeepers, you cannot survive in world hockey, so we are working on both.