Asian hockey champions India return to Delhi

New Delhi, Sep. 13 : The Indian hockey team arrived here late on Monday after its resounding victory against Pakistan in the final of the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos city of China''s Inner Mongolia province.
Captain Rajpal Singh said the team''s morale was high throughout the tournament which gave them a positive approach to the game.
"We were confident from the beginning of the tournament. We had a very good start, when we defeated China 5-0, and Korea after that. The main thing about this tournament was that we did not lose a single match. We took the confidence we gained to the final and benefited by it," said Singh.
Singh added that the team needed to continue focusing on their game and evolve a more aggressive technique. He said that now the main goal was to qualify for the Olympics.
Michael Nobbs, the coach of the Indian squad, said that the performance by the young players had made the team proud. He said that the final was a good game, played between two good teams.
He also said that it is now upto the youth of the country to revive interest in hockey.
"We''ve set (hockey) in place, thanks to Hockey India, Mr. Batra. We''ve set in place the growth of Indian hockey through our youth, and to build the depth of our youth of India, to take us through to, hopefully, this Olympics and the next Olympics after that," he said.
India defeated Pakistan 4-2 in the final of the Champions Trophy on Sunday (September 11) in the Chinese city of Ordos. The match went down to a penalty shootout, where two crucial saves by goalkeeper S Sreejesh sealed the game for India.