Walia, back from the five-day (June 23-27) trip to New Jersey, US with the Indian under-21 side that won a four-nation tournament, said the experience did wonders to the confidence of the youngsters.

``None, except Surinder Kaur, Suman Jaiswal and Pakpi Devi, have played internationals. So, for them it was a big success. Now they can step onto the field without fear, and can play with complete freedom,'' said Walia, also the joint secretary of the All India Women's Hockey Federation.

The 16-member side, with P P Anthony as coach, had a tough time, not only from the competition but also from the organisation of the tournament, which could have been better, said Walia.

``The rooms had no air-conditioners, no fans and it was hot. There was no one to take care of our problems and the tournament seemed to lack that something. There were nocrowds, the players found motivation difficult,'' Walia added.

The team reached rather late (June 21), ``we would have liked to reach a day or two earlier'' and the flight was six hours late.

Their first match was against a tough English side and that was the only loss for the side still trying to get its bearings on foreign soil. But the Indians picked themselves up and won their next three matches, including the final, where they extracted revenge from England.

Surinder Kaur scored five goals in the competition, which also had US and Chile in it, while Kiran Bala had three, Pakpi Devi two, skipper Pushpa Pradhan two, Nishi Chuhan two and Mamta Kharab had three -- including the sudden death match winner in the final.

There were hardly any spectators, with the FIH-sanctioned tournament not well marketed, and the games were played on a grid-iron ground. ``There were so many markings on the field that it was confusing,'' said Walia, who said the officiating could have be better. ``The umpires seemed alittle biased and so the win is all the more creditable.''

``We just wanted to know where we stand in terms of other teams. This will help in plannig for the future though we still need to play Asian sides,'' explained Walia. ``Now we can build our team as we are aware of our weaknesses.''

Scorecard

Lost to England 0-1; beat US 5-1 (scorers Surinder Kaur 2, Pakpi Devi, Mamta Kharab, Pushpa Pradhan); bt Chile 10-0 (Kiran Bala 3, Nishi Chauhan 2, Surinder Kaur 2, Pushpa Pradhan, Mamta Kharab, Pakpi Devi).

In final: bt England 2-1 (Surinder Kaur, Mamta Kharab)