Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh had a new, devoted supporter for him from the stands on Saturday as he led his team to their third final at the Commonwealth Games.
Manpreet Singh’s side thrashed South Africa 3-2 in a well-fought match for a place in the final of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, their support from the stands was their eight-month-old daughter. Manpreet is married to former Malaysian hockey player Ili Najwa Saddiqui.
Manpreet was thrilled to have her daughter in the stands India Reached the final on Saturday and expressed hope that she would like to play hockey in the future.
“I hope she is enjoying it. I am very happy to have her here to watch hockey – hopefully she will take up hockey in the future,” Manpreet said after the match.
The 30-year-old, who led India to a historic bronze medal in Tokyo last year – the country’s first medal at the Olympics after a gap of four decades – was delighted that her team managed to reach the final after failing to do so . India lost in the semi-finals at the 2018 Gold Coast, Australia and also missed out on a bronze medal after losing 2-1 to England.
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“We lost the semi-finals (2-3 to New Zealand) in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and we learned good things (important lessons). That’s what we implemented in this Commonwealth Games (here). We should not underestimate any team. Any team will give our best and we should give our best in every single match, so that’s what we did.
He said South Africa put up a good fight but India were confident after playing in the FIH Pro League earlier this year.
“They’re a really good team, they’re really good players and they never give up. Today you see they also gave their best till the last whistle, that’s the good thing about them.
“We also knew that this match will not be easy for us, they will not give us easy wins. They will give us a good fight. That’s what happened and we were ready for that.
“We scored the first two goals, but we were thinking that we shouldn’t take it easy, because they can score anytime,” Manpreet said.
Hockey made its Commonwealth Games debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Australia won gold medals in all six editions.
They will be vying for their seventh gold when they take on India in the final on Monday. Australia beat hosts England 3-2 in the second semi-final on Saturday. This will be the third encounter between India and Australia in the final of the Commonwealth Games. India was defeated World In the 2010 and 2014 editions the No. 1 team finished with a silver medal.