HWL Final : India face Argentina in opener .

Roelant-Oltmans

Host India set to face Argentina  in a eyecatching  opener of  the Hockey World League  at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium here  in Raipur on Friday. The HWL, which ends on 6 December, will see eight teams battling it out for the illustrious  title.

The eight teams who have made it to the final stage are divided  into two groups. Group A consists of Australia, Great Britain, Belgium and Canada. India are placed in Pool B alongside world number five Argentina,world  number two Holland and world number three Germany .

Under High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans India has shown some  significant progress in  the recent past.The Sardar Singh led side also showed some Brilliant display in the three test series against world champions Australia.But the HWL Final will be a different ball game.India will  have to rub shoulders with the biggest teams.All the teams in the HWL Final have qualified following some commendable  performance in the HWL semi finals.

Argentina, better known as a country of football , have been quite consistent in some major competitions, which includes their magnificent  third-place finish in the 2014 Hockey World Cup.

This kind of results define Argentina as one of the powerful  teams in the competition. India, on the other hand, have also been quite brilliant, having finished third in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia and fourth in the HWL semi final in Belgium..

India who finished fourth in the HWL semifinal in Antwerp would be loking to impress infront of their home fans. India have a number of great players in their ranks, including V R Raghunath, S V Sunil, Akashdeep Singh and Sardar Singh, who can play an integral role for the home team.

These players need to be at their best  in front of the home fans, who have always supported India to the hilt. However, India’s defence, which has been a bit shaky  in their last few tournaments, needs to be solid and not concede silly goals.

With Argentina having  players like Manuel Brunet, who can singlehandedly change the face of a match, India cannot afford to give easy chances as he can score with utmost ease. Besides Brunet, Agrentina will also ask their most consistent player  Lucas Vila to create some scintillating display with the stick.

The opening ceremony will be presided over by Dr Raman Singh,Chief Minister,Chhattisgarh,and Balramji Dass Tandon,Governor of Chhattisgarh.