'A Coach Is Never Satisfied'

India is peaking at the right time and is well on course of realising their dream of winning theChampions Trophy and a medal at the Athens Olympics next year, according to coach Rajinder Singh.

"Our build-up to the Champions Trophy and Olympics has been just right and we are on track to achieve ourlong-standing goals," said the coach who arrived in the Capital this morningalong with the Indian team after a victorious German outing.

Rajinder, who had guided the junior team to World Cup glory in 2001, said the recent successes of the Indianteam may have raised the expectations of fans but the team was not under any kind of pressure.

"There is no pressure of expectation on us. But our good performances have put the pressure on our rivals who will haveto start taking us more seriously," said the coach.

India will persist with more or less the same team in the upcoming assignments so as not to upset the balance. "We have struck a right balance in the team and we willstick with this winning combination though there may be minor changes here and there," Rajindersaid.

Reflecting on India's triumph in the four-nation Hamburg Masters tournament, he said,"A coach is never satisfied with his team's show but I must say the boys played their heartsout".

Pointing out the weaknesses which needed to be sorted out, Rajinder said he was worried about India's fieldgoal scoring abilities.

"We have improved in penalty corner conversions but the field goal scoring needs to be worked on. "Also we must strengthen our midfield attack. The European teams play with a lot of power and we have to matchthem by being more aggressive," Rajinder said.

The coach said the team will iron out the weaknesses in the camp preceding the Champions Trophy in August inAmstelveen, Netherlands.

The coach praised the team for its concerted effort while picking out captain Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Singh Dhillon for special mention. "Both Pillay and Dhillon are my biggest strength."

He, however, said Deepak Thakur, who made a comeback to the team after a brief injury lay-off, needed toimprove his game. "I am not satisfied with Deepak's performance. He did not justify his talent. He will have to work harder."

Player-of-the-tournament Gagan Ajit Singh said the tournament turned out to be one of the most memorable for him. "It feels great to be honoured with such a big awardamong stalwarts and champions. It is nice to be declared the best among the best," said the forward.

He said India failed to win against Germany because "certain umpiring decisions went in their favour".But Rajinder said he has satisfied with the umpiring.

PTI