Madrid, Mar 03: Indian hockey coach Rajinder Singh blamed the team's forwards for the tame 1-1 draw against Belgium in the men's Olympic hockey qualifying tournament last night, saying the strikers wasted a few chances and their receiving was not upto the mark. ''We should have won the match but our forwards let us down. Moreover, the half-line also did not provide adequate support to the forwards,'' Rajinder told newspersons late last night. He also highlighted India's failure to convert six penalty corners during the match. ''We could convert only one of the seven penalty corners we received,'' he said. The coach complimented Belgium team for putting up such a good defence. ''Their goalkeeper played extremely well in blocking a few shots from our forwards, the coach added.
On India's next match against Malaysia tomorrow, Rajinder Said, ''We will be going all out against Malaysia. We have to win against Malaysia if we are to remain in contention,'' he observed.
Bureau Report