New Delhi: Disappointed with the last-place finish in the London Olympics, experienced Indian Hockey player Ignace Tirkey said his team let the country down and would try to regain the faith with a better performance in the Champions trophy later this year.
Ignace was a member of Indian Hockey team which finished seventh in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He has also witnessed the tragedy of losing Beijing Olympic qualifiers in Chile (2008) and now Indian Hockey touched a new low when the team failed to win a single match and finished last in the London Olympics. Ignace was again a key member of this team.
"We let the Hockey lovers of our country down. I regret this and I know that we have lost the trust of our fans. But I have confidence that team will bounce back in Champions trophy to be held in December. We will regain their faith through better performance," Ignace told PTI Bhasha.
The Champions Trophy, the first major FIH tournament after London Olympics, will be held in Melbourne, Australia from December 1 to 9. The countries that will take part include Australia, Belgium, England, India, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Pakistan.
When asked about the dismal performance in London Olympics, Ignace admitted that the team failed to deliver as a unit.
"All the players tried really hard but we could not deliver as a unit. Individually everyone was playing well but sometimes co ordination was lacking.
"We did lose ball possession easily and gave opponents many chances to counter attack while we could not avail chances came our way," said the 33-year-old midfielder-turned-defender.
"We could play better than this. We could not play even 50 percent of our potential," he added. "I have seen the darkest phase of Indian Hockey in 2008 when we were out of Beijing Olympic.
"I can never forget that and I used to tell everyone that how important is winning matches in London. We tried but failed. We should have win 2 or 3 matches at least," said the veteran.
Despite that failure Ignace is not contemplating retirement in near future. "I am not thinking of retiring now. I will keep playing as long as I am fit. My focus is to remain injury free and match fit," he said.
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