Former hockey players warn about complacency

Hockey Olympians hail men`s team for qualifying in the London Olympics, but said the players should not get complacent.

Chandigarh: Hockey Olympians have praised the men`s team for qualifying in the London Olympics, but said the players should not get complacent, as the real target was yet to be achieved. "We have played well. The boys deserve all the praise, but at the same time we should not forget the level of the teams in the qualifiers," Balbir Singh Senior said.

"Even though, victory margins against the opponents have been convincing in the qualifiers we should not get complacent at this stage," said the Chandigarh-based Olympian. The 87-year-old added, though the rate of penalty corner conversion has improved there was still scope for improvement in the team`s defence. "We should also work on scoring field goals, because in the Olympics, there are teams who will be very good in this area too...I must say that even teams like Poland and Canada gave tough fight in the qualifiers and at one stage, I got really worried," the veteran pointed out. India yesterday thrashed France 8-1 in the final of the qualification tournament at Delhi to book a berth in this year`s London Olympics after missing out the Beijing Games in 2008. Former star player Gagan Ajit Singh said, "the real victory is yet to come." "We have qualified and we must celebrate, there is nothing wrong in that, but we must now work on our weaknesses like sprucing up our deep defence. "We should forget (yesterday`s) victory now and work hard in training sessions and remain focused, which is to win Olympic gold," Gagan said. PTI