“Indian hockey team has attained great rhythm ahead of Tokyo Olympics,” says Mandeep Singh

“Indian hockey team has attained great rhythm ahead of Tokyo Olympics,” says Mandeep Singh

Mandeep Singh

Mandeep Singh, forward of the Indian Hockey Team said that the side’s recent performance against Olympic champion Argentina was a “huge confidence booster” for the team ahead of the upcoming Tokyo Games. India won both its matches against Argentina in the first FIH Hockey Pro League and two out of the four practice games on the tour, which was held from April 6 to 14.

“Putting up a great performance against the Olympic Gold Medallists is certainly a huge confidence booster for us,” Mandeep, who had scored a goal in India’s 3-0 win in the second FIH Pro League match, said via a Hockey India release. “We played very well against Germany and Great Britain as well and it was great to back that up with a brilliant tour of Argentina. We have attained a great rhythm in our last two tours, and we are currently working on a few aspects that we could have done better in our recent matches,” he added.

Mandeep also said that the way this team played against Argentina and Europe tours was a huge plus point for the team. “When a team plays matches after a long break, a team could lose its coordination. However, it was great to see how we all found our coordination quickly and gelled very well as a team when we played each of our matches this year. The team is shaping up really well at the moment. We just have to keep focussing on the basics and keeping moving forward with each practice session,” he said.

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Indian team’s sole focus is on the Tokyo Olympics

Indian hockey team
Indian hockey team in action

Mandeep continued about the Tokyo Olympics being the ultimate goal at present saying, “Our sole focus is the Olympics and I think we are totally on track to put up a great performance in the quadrennial event later this year.”

“We are very fortunate to be training for the Olympics in a safe and secure environment at the SAI campus in Bengaluru during a very difficult time for our country,” added Mandeep, who had tested positive last August.

India were set to play their next matches with Great Britain, scheduled for May 8-9 in London which was postponed last week following the UK government’s decision to add India to the ‘red list’ in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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