'Several good signs for Indian hockey at Champions Trophy'

Melbourne: Disappointed he might be on missing out on a medal but India's hockey coach Michael Nobbs said there were several good signs for his team during the Champions Trophy in which it finished fourth after losing to Pakistan in the bronze medal playoff here on Sunday.

"It's a good effort to make the semi-finals at the Champions Trophy after the disappointing show at the Olympics," said Nobbs after the 2-3 loss to Pakistan here on Sunday. "A bronze medal would have been wonderful, but we did not do enough today," he added.

Nobbs said the Indian strikers could not match the good work of the defenders. "Our defence had a remarkable tournament and they did well again today. But our finishing was not good enough. There was a lot of mis-trapping by the forwards and that gave away the chances we managed to create. Those were soft errors, something the boys need to work on," said the Australian.

\"We have the making of a good side,\" said coach Michael Nobbs after India lost the bronze-medal match to Pakistan.

"Probably some of the mistakes were also due to inexperience, but we have the making of a good side. There are a several good signs for Indian hockey from this tournament," he added.

Nobbs complimented the two deep defenders - VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh - for their compact game, and also young goalkeeper TR Potunuri. Nobbs said captain Sardar Singh had managed to continue playing with a very sore shoulder and a twisted ankle as well. "Besides Sardar, forward SV Sunil and midfielder Manpreet Singh also ignored pain to continue playing throughout the tournament," he said.

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