Presence of foreign experts boost Indian hockey: Chinglensana Singh

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: The vice captain of Indian Hockey team Chinglensana Singh recently made a short trip in Guwahati. During his stay the half back spoke for a while to The Sentinel. Here are the excerpts.

TS:You have played more than 200 matches in your career. You might have to work hard for fitness.

Yes. We follow a regular fitness regimen. Apart from that we have to strictly follow the diet chart also. I believe, for a player diet is a very important factor for his/her fitness and he/she should take only food which the experts suggest.

TS: How were you attracted to Hockey?

At the early stage I was very much interested to play football. I regularly visited the local ground to play the game. However, later I started to get inclined to hockey. I started to watch hockey matches on television. A few local good hockey players helped me to learn the game in a proper way.

TS: What are the major changes you have noticed during the start of your career and in present-day hockey?

A lot of changes occurred in Indian hockey. The best thing is the presence of foreign experts in the team. I won’t say that there are no good experts of the game in our country. But differences attitude make all the difference. Foreign experts never allow any breach of instructions set earlier. For instance, we can’t take all types of food even if it is amongst the best dishes. If you take this food in front of foreign expert it is certain that you would get some kind of punishment on the next day. However, most of the experts of our country are not so strict. Some players take the advantage of such a leniency, and that affects team’s performance.

TS: Hockey in the Northeast is second or third bench game. What could be the reasons?

I feel we don’t have sufficient infrastructure of this game in different states of the region. It is the prime cause. Except Manipur and Assam, most of the States of the Northeast don’t have sufficient numbers of astro-turf. So players are forced to play on the natural ground. It does not help at all to develop their skill. I think it’s time the State governments in the region took some tangible steps in this regard as the region has good potential in this game.

TS: The world cup was held in home ground and India even failed to qualify for the final. Any frustration?

Oh Yes. That was a very sad moment for us. Actually in the quarter final we didn’t play well. Or else, we could have marched further.

TS: What is your next goal?

Winning an Olympic medal is my dream. I’m trying my best to make this dream come true in Japan in 2020.

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