Former India high-performance director David John believes that the Indian men’s hockey team will peak in the 2028 Olympics, giving them their best chance at a gold medal in several years.

“The majority of our current junior World Cup players will be in the squad for the Games in 2024 and 2028. They would have played nearly 300 internationals together by then and be around 30 years old each “On the sidelines of a Khelo India Youth Games match, he stated that the team would have the necessary experience to withstand any kind of pressure.

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Indian hockey has made a comeback, with the men’s team winning bronze and the women’s team placing fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“These are exciting times for India but many squads — including Germany, Australia, Belgium and Holland — are also getting better,” John opined.

John, who was with the India team for several years before resigning, has returned to the country as the director of hockey for Odisha. His assignment has piqued his interest.

“It is a challenging role. But if Odisha becomes strong, Indian hockey becomes strong, both in men and women,” he said, confirming that his goal and brief was to make his team No. 1 in the country.

Odisha is already constructing 20 more hockey rinks in remote areas of the state where extreme poverty coexists with an abundance of natural talent.

“Soon, our kids will play on synthetic and not on grass from the grassroots level itself,” he said.

“Our next step is to put good coaches in place at each of these new turfs so that they receive the best coaching at the grassroots level itself. In eight years, you will see a different Odisha in hockey, and hopefully a different India.”

The Australian was impressed by Indian dribbling skills but insisted that they needed to sacrifice them in order to become a world force again.

“Don’t try to dribble past your opponents. Modern hockey is all about 3D and aerial skills. Fortunately, these youngsters have all imbibed these skills,” he said, pointing to the rapid flow of the match.

“Our players are quick and adept at attacking but they lose the ball in the rival ‘D’ as they run too close to the defenders. Worse, that allows the other side to counter-attack with devastating effect,” John said.

(Inputs from IANS)