A historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics is putting him back among the international elite, India FIH will be looking for its first podium finish in men’s hockey in 48 years World As for the cup, they begin their campaign against Spain in a tough match at Rourkela on Friday.
A medal in this showpiece would strengthen the claim that with eight Olympic golds, the former stalwarts of the sport have turned around world hockey.
The country won a bronze in the inaugural tournament in 1971 and a silver in the next edition in 1973. Ajit Pal Singh led the team to win the title in 1975, but since then they have failed to reach the semi-finals.
From 1978 to 2014, India could not progress beyond the group stage.
Undoubtedly, the Indian team will be one of the medal contenders, with a talented Harmanpreet Singh-led side emerging as a force to be reckoned with. The team has earned respect from other top nations in recent times.
India, currently ranked sixth in the world, come into the tournament on the back of an impressive performance against world number one Australia in the five-match series, though they lost 1-4.
Graham Reid’s side equaled one of the favorites to win the World Cup in most departments of the game, registering their first win in six years against their formidable opponents.
In the previous edition, also held in Bhubaneswar, India crashed out at the quarter-final stage after losing to Netherlands, who were the eventual runners-up, and they would like to reach at least the semi-finals this time.
India has also performed well in the FIH Hockey Pro League, finishing third in the 2021-22 season. The confidence and winning mindset is back with the team.
Ever since Reid took over as the head coach in 2019, India’s stature has grown. He has been able to get the best out of players, while injecting a tactical discipline to his trademark efficient, fluid playing style, making him a team-mate that is respected and feared in equal measure.
“We focused mainly on scenarios in our training, what if we are 0-1 down, what if we are playing with 10 men, what if they drop their keeper. Those kinds of scenarios that are important are what we’ve dealt with,” Reed said.
Flamboyant defender and one of the game’s best drag-flickers, captain and FIH Player of the Year Harmanpreet Singh will play a key role in India’s success, while goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, midfield stalwarts Manpreet Singh and Hardik Singh and striker Mandeep Singh. All capable of bringing about game-changing moments.
Defender Amit Rohidas, who has captained the side in the past and also takes penalty corners, and forward Akashdeep Singh will be among the other Indian players to watch out for.
Reid said he wanted to take some of the pressure off captain Harmanpreet, who is also a defensive guard.
India will be hoping to start with a win, as that result could help them top Pool D for a direct quarterfinal berth and avoid playing cross-over matches (the second team from each of the four pools and for third place teams).
Having qualified for the quarter-finals via cross-over matches, they could face strong teams such as defending champions Belgium in the last-eight stage.
He said, ‘It is an old saying that the first match is the most important, so we are just focusing on that and then we will take it forward. That’s how we’re coming,” Reid said.
Spain have never been an easy opponent for India and the world number eight European team will remain the same on Friday even though they are one of the youngest teams in the tournament.
Although without a title, Spain are always a difficult side as they can beat any team on their day. They were runners-up in 1971 and 1998, taking the bronze medal in 2006.
Coached by former Argentina international Max Caldas and captained by their most experienced player Alvaro Iglesias, the Spanish side had the upper hand in the ongoing Pro League season matches in Bhubaneswar in October-November last year.
They won the first match 3–2 while India drew the second match 2–2 in the penalty shootout.
It was also Stevens in two matches of the 2021-22 Pro League season in February last year. Spain won the first match 5-3 while India won the second match 5-4.
Historically too, there is not much difference between the two sides as India have won 13 of the 30 matches they have played against each other since 1948 (when India won 2–0 at the London Olympics). Spain has won 11 times while six matches have ended in draws.
“Most of us (90 per cent) are playing our first World Cup. This does not mean that we are to be afraid of our opponents. We will remain as we are and we are ready,” Alvaro said.
Talking about the Pro League matches in October-November last year, Alvaro said, “They were very good hockey matches. It means a lot and Friday will be more or less the same.”
The privilege of playing the first international match at the brand new and 21,000-capacity Birsa Munda Stadium – which the Odisha government claims to be the largest in the world in terms of attendance – would, however, go to England and neighboring Wales, who struggled against them. Are. between each other in the first match of Pool D two hours before the India vs Spain game.
The first match of the tournament will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar – which will become the first venue to host back-to-back World Cups – between Argentina and South Africa in Pool A.
Title contenders Australia will face France in the second Pool A match at the Kalinga Stadium.
Defending champions and another title-favourite Belgium will open their campaign against South Korea in Pool B on Saturday at the Kalinga Stadium, which will host 24 matches of the tournament including the semi-finals and final.
The remaining 20 matches will be held at the Birsa Munda Stadium.
Squad:
India: Abhishek, Surendra Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (c), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishna Pathak, Neelam Sanjeep X, PR Sreejesh, Neelkant Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas (Vice-Captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sukhjit Singh.
Spain: Andreas Rafi, Alejandro Alonso, César Curiel, Xavi Gispert, Borja Lacalle, Álvaro Iglesias, Ignacio Roder Guez, Enrique Gonzalez, Gerard Claps, Andreas Rafi, Jordi Bonastre, Joaquin Menini, Mario Garin, Marc Rene, Marc Miralles, Pepe Cunil , Mark Rickessens, Pau Kunil and Mark Vizcaino.
The match will start at 7 pm Indian time,
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)