Hockey World Cup 2010

For most hockey fans out there, we are all very delighted that the hockey world cup is going on right now. The better part of this is that the tournament is being held in India, a nation known for producing one of the best hockey players around the world. What a chance it is to bring back the glory days of asian hockey. Although the asian hockey skills are remarkable and impressive but they are not as effective as compared to the tactical game of the europeans.

For years now the most successful hockey nations around the world has adapted to the quick european style of play, playing short passes and looking for room to make the killer pass. This play is both effective and efficient, it is simple the ball travels faster than the player. The asians though, they play the most attractive hockey but they fail to deliver when it matters most. Now coming back to the hockey world cup, India for example started off brilliantly by beating their arch rivals Pakistan 4-1. Both teams played the same style of hockey which was greatly influenced by some wonderful skills and hard hitting of the ball.

The 2nd match though brought the indians down to earth again, see the same kind of hockey which is played with so much of skill is not suitable against the Australians. They were beatean quite easily 5-2. The australians waited for the indians to make mistakes which they did quite a lot and took advantage of this by playing some killer passes straight into the D. By hitting the ball hard into the D of the opponnents the indians are actually allowing the australians to trap the ball better and take advantage of the superior speed and tactical play to launch quick counter attacks, in the end it was a brilliant tactic and again it showed us that the asian hockey game is no longer as effective as once it was.

It is going to be very difficult for both India and Pakistan to make it to the semi-finals and they should adapt both their skills and maneuverability better and have a good tactical game. The malaysian's should also learn something out of it since they fail to qualify for the world cup.