We are back into Champions Trophy: Coach

LUCKNOW: India''s chief coach Rajinder Singh was full praise for his team''s fighting win over Germany in the Champions Trophy hockey in Amstelveen. The 3-2 win on Sunday kept India in the medal hunt in the trophy for the first time in 21 years.
"The boys took some time to find their rhythm and charged late to claim the full points," commented Singh from his hotel room.
"All the players played their part well in the win. The seniors like captain Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Saini and Dilip Tirkey all did their bit well and inspired the youngsters to stick to the task," added the coach.
He also lauded the goal scoring efforts by Gagan Ajit Singh, who also netted the clincher with two minutes to go, and Prabhjot Singh. "Gagan''s match-winning goal was beautiful," he complimented the scorer and hoped more stuff from him in matches ahead.
The coach admitted the team was a bit jaded against Germany. "It is not easy to two play full-blooded matches in two days on the artificial turf. But they exerted pressure from all sides and managed to gain vital points," exalted the former full-back.
He denied the players were complacent or tired. Prior to the tournament, India had played a warm-up match with the Germany''s development side and had beaten them 4-3.
"That was just a practice match. A practice match is far different from the game in a tournament. They may call themselves a development side. But they are a very good outfit and will certainly trouble other competitors in the latter matches," predicted Singh.
He also catagorically rejected the claims by some newspapers that the India team lacked fitness as it had a camp during hot and humid conditions in Lucknow.
"I don''t think that the fitness level of my boys is less than any other player. If the team had not been in top physical shape, they would have not staged a comeback and defeated a team like Germany," Singh asserted.
However he rued for the loss to the Dutch in the opener. "We should have won that match. A number of things went wrong in the last six-seven minutes and we gifted the win to Holland," he regretted.
"Injury to (Dilip) Tirkey, a slight muscle pull to goal-keeper Devesh (Chauhan) and then expulsion of Dhanraj (Pillay) for dissent all created confusion in the team and we ended up on the losing side," said Singh.
"But the win over Germany is good for the team for next matches. No team can be taken easily. We will play a much better game in remaining matches. We will try to realise the aim of finishing among the top two nations in the trophy," said Singh with determination.
Dhanraj Pillay was relieved with the win. "After the defeat to Holland, we were too upset. But this win over Germany has signalled our comeback into the trophy, reacted the Indian skipper over the win.
Gagan Ajit Singh was however sleeping in his room and could be contacted for his reaction over his superb performance. Gagan had struck the first Indian goal in the 42nd minute with a neat tap. With two minutes to go, the forward, showing commendable dash and adventure, fired a rocket off a bouncing ball to clinch the rare Indian triumph over Germany.
The victory exacted a revenge for India. Last year, in the Champions Trophy in Cologne, the scoreline was the same but in favour of hosts Germany.