Hockey World Cup: Australia confident of defending title, says coach

Bhubaneswar: After team Australia and support staff arrived at the Bhubaneswar airport amid tight security today, team coach, ‎Colin Batch in an interview to OTV, sounded confident of a superb show to defend the title in Bhubaneswar.

"Preparations have been good and we have got a bunch of guys fully fit and we are looking forward to the tournament. We have been to Bhubaneswar earlier, the facilities here are very good and we are getting used to it," Batch said.

Batch further said that there are a lot of good teams and the competition will be tough. There is a good balance between experience and youth in the last 18 months, added Batch.

Team Australia has lifted the trophy thrice in 1986, 2010 and 2014. The team will be eying for a hat-trick in Bhubaneswar this time.

Batch further added that rather than defending the title, our mindset is to win the tournament once again by playing good hockey.

Australia will play two training matches against South Africa and Germany ahead of the main tournament to get used to the conditions here.

The World Cup will kick off with the inauguration ceremony at Kalinga Stadium on November 27. The matches will begin a day later with Belgium facing Canada and host India taking on South Africa.