Sardar Singh: India on right track for Rio Olympics

Indian men’s hockey team finished 12th and last in the London Olympics, but Sardar said that the team would produce a vastly improved show this time in Rio.

Sardar Singh and his men will get a final chance to improve their performances during the Champions Trophy in June.

Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh today said that his team has been improving in the last two years and is on right track to make amends of the 2012 London Olympics debacle in Rio Games later this year.

Indian men’s hockey team finished 12th and last in the London Olympics, but Sardar said that the team would produce a vastly improved show this time in Rio.

“After winning the gold in 2014 Asian Games, the team has improved a lot in the last one and half years. This time in Rio, we will do a lot better than our disappointing show in London,” Sardar said at the sidelines of an event to announce Bollywood superstar Salman Khan as Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian contingent at Rio Olympics.

“Our target is to win a medal in Rio. In any case, you will see a vastly improved show in Rio,” he said.

Asked about the preparations of the team in the run-up to Rio, Sardar said, “We are on the right track as far as preparations are concerned. We are getting the international matches also. The national camp is beginning from tomorrow again after a gap and the coach and the coach management are working to rectify whatever chinks and drawbacks we have in the team before Rio.

“We had an experimental team in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and we had a good show there considering that the team was not full strength. We will get the last chance to rectify our chinks during the Champions Trophy in London in June,” he added.

“The (2014) Asian Games gold was the beginning of a process in Indian men’s hockey and I just hope that we get the desired results in Rio,” said Sardar, considered one of the best players in the world currently.

Sardar was embroiled in a controversy in February after an assault case was filed by a 21-year-old British woman against him, but he said he has left it behind and his sole focus is on hockey now.

Asked if he has any disappointments still lingering on field or off it, Sardar said, “I want to concentrate on this which I can do and I am not worried about something which I can control. My focus in on hockey only and the team’s performance in Rio.”