New Delhi: Hockey greats Balbir Singh Sr and Ajit Pal Singh on Thursday hailed India's Asian Games gold medal winning effort but felt the players still have a mountain to climb to succeed at the world and Olympics level.
The former stars said the win over Pakistan will give the sport a big push in the country.
"It was an excellent effort by the boys and they deserve this memorable win. It is a great morale booster for them ahead of the Rio Olympics. Having said that, India still need to improve drastically if they are to do well in world hockey," Balbir, a triple Olympic gold medallist, told PTI after India beat Pakistan to win the top prize in Asia after 16 years.
The 89-year-old legend said anything less than gold would have been a disappointing result, considering the competition in the quadrennial event.
"I had a feeling before the competition that we will win. Pakistan are not the side they used to be and Korea's level has also dropped," reckoned Balbir.
1975 World Cup-winning captain, Ajit Pal, said Indian hockey needed this victory badly. "This win has come after a long time and will help people reconnect with the game. I think the boys thoroughly deserved the win.
"Barring the first quarter, which Pakistan dominated, India were the better team. The boys looked very comfortable on the field and made it look easy even in the shoot-out. It will give them a lot of confidence for the future," said Ajit Pal.
Watching the game on television, Balbir was happy to see the improvement in players' fitness before pointing out their weak areas on the field.
"Today I saw a marked improvement in their fitness. The boys maintained the intensity for entire 60 minutes. However, they can't be making the mistakes against top teams like Australia, Netherlands and Germany," he said referring to India's missed chances in the final.
"The goal SV Sunil missed in the first quarter is something he should have easily put inside the goal. Then I feel major improvement is required in trapping, defence and marking. Unless we trap well, we won't be able to create chances on the field.
"Marking too has to improve against the top teams that have such well-built players," said Balbir, who was part of the team which won India's first Asian Games gold in 1966 when they beat Pakistan 1-0.
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