The Indian men’s hockey team is the favourite to win the Asian Games gold, given the side’s impressive title run in the recent Asian Champions Trophy at Chennai.
The stakes at the Asian Games, however, is higher. The winner will earn a direct berth for the 2024 Paris Olympics - the perfect chance to avoid the tricky qualification rounds.
Midfielder Manpreet Singh, who led the nation to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, acknowledged the added importance of doing well in the continental games.
“We have only one aim - to win the gold, because we can get the ticket to the Paris Olympics. This is a crucial tournament for us, and we are taking things very seriously,” Manpreet said on Thursday.
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But we should not take the burden of getting an Olympic berth in our minds when we enter the field. We should play our normal game. If we feel the Olympics pressure, we might lose focus. Our coach wants us to just enjoy the game,” Manpreet added.
Manpreet stated that head coach Craig Fulton, appointed in March, has established a good rapport with players. “He wants us to use the skills that comes naturally to Indians. Craig’s motto is ‘defend to win’. He says that if we defend well, we can score at any time, because we have good strikers and penalty corner specialists,” Manpreet said.
A marquee clash awaits India in the group stage of the Asian Games, when it takes on Pakistan. Manpreet explained that the players will do well to take a clinical approach - as seen in India’s 4-0 win over the arch-rival in Chennai earlier this month, rather than getting carried away by emotions.
“We look at it as another match. We do not want to get emotional just because we are facing Pakistan. If we get emotional, we might make mistakes,” Manpreet said.
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