Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh has said that the FIH Pro League will help the team gain “some really good experience” ahead of the Asian Games in Guangzhou (China) as a direct qualification event for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Will work ,
The Indian men’s hockey team had missed out on direct qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as they finished third in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. He finally made the Tokyo 2020 grade in the 2019 Olympic qualifying tournament in Bhubaneswar.
“Asian Games will undoubtedly be the biggest event for us this year. The Asian Champions Trophy (recently in Dhaka) was a good tournament to see the progress of other Asian teams and from what we got to see, it will definitely be a tough competition in the Asian Games as all the teams will be in a race to make ends meet. Olympic cut,” Manpreet said.
Only teams that win gold medals in men’s and women’s hockey earn Olympic qualification directly from the Asian Games.
Manpreet, who is back in the national camp with his teammates after a short break after being knocked out of the Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka, on Monday said the Pro League will help the team try out different combinations to step up their game. of Asian Games.
“I think the FIH Hockey Pro League will help us gain some good match experience ahead of the Asian Games. Additionally, I think the FIH Hockey Pro League matches will give us a great opportunity to try out different combinations ahead of the Asian Games.”
Manpreet said that the team is excited and looking forward to an exciting and busy year.
“This year is going to be very exciting with back-to-back tournaments throughout the year. We will start the season in February with FIH Hockey Pro League matches. After almost two years we will return to our favorite venue in Bhubaneswar where we will play double header matches against Spain, Germany, Argentina and England.
The captain said the camp will be crucial to assess their performance over the past year and plan for the coming year.
“It was a really nice break of 10 days for all of us, spending some quality time with our families. I think we have returned to the camp feeling mentally refreshed and ready for the challenge ahead. We will assess our performance in 2021 with the head coach (Graham Reid) and support staff and also draw up a road map for 2022.
Ahead of a busy year, when India will defend their title in the Asia Cup before competing at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (July) and then the Asian Games, Manpreet stressed on the importance of staying mentally fit.
“It is very important for us to stay mentally fresh from tournament-to-tournament. After facing the challenges of training and playing at Bio-Bubble, we’ve been tough together and I think the team and support staff will focus more on mental health as a whole.
“Overall, we look forward to 2022 and wish all hockey fans a great year and urge everyone to follow all COVID protocols, wear masks and stay safe,” Manpreet said.
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