New Delhi The Indian men’s and women’s hockey team started the year 2020 with a goal of winning a medal in the Olympics to end the 40-year Olympic medal drought, but Kovid-19 postponed the Games Which is to be in 2021 now. India won the last gold medal in hockey at Moscow 1980 Olympics. After this, the Indian men’s team played eight Olympics but did not get the podium. The Indian team finished eighth in the Rio Olympics-2016.
This year, the Indian men’s team finished fourth in the International Federation (FIH) ranking and is finishing the year at the same place.
The Indian team attended FIH Pro Hockey for the first time before hockey activities stopped due to Kovid-19 and played six matches with the best teams in the world including two against world champions Belgium, Olympic silver medalists Netherlands and Australia. – Played two matches.
The Indian team won 5–2 in the first match against the Netherlands and a 3–3 draw in the second match. India won the first match 2–1 against Belgium but lost the second match 3–4. India lost 3-4 in the first match against Australia while the second match was drawn 2-2.
The players then lived in a bio-secure environment at the Sports Authority of India (Sai) ‘s Bangalore center. The players practiced here after being given a lockout exemption in August.
During this time, however, six players from India were found infected with Kovid-19. They include the names of Indian men’s team captain Manpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Varun Kumar, Krishna Pathak.
Mandeep said of his Quarantine experience, “We have read a lot that this virus is very dangerous. The first few days were stressful. I have been in very difficult match situations though as a professional hockey player, so I Didn’t feel much pressure. ”
In the Pro League, India will resume their campaign against Argentina out of home from 10 and 11 April. She will then play against Great Britain on May 8 and 9. After this, he will go to Spain where he has to play matches on 12 and 13 May. She will play against Germany on 18 and 19 May this month and will face New Zealand in India on 29 and 30 May.
Manpreet said that playing consecutive matches is very good for the team before the Olympics.
“We have a four-week gap in our matches with Argentina and Great Britain, after that we will play consecutive matches every weekend. We want to play this way before the Olympics,” he said.
“We want to test our body and mind and see how we consistently play big matches and withstand the pressure. This will be our good test before the Olympics,” he said.
At the same time, the women’s team had an Olympic game for the second time in 2016 and finished 12th. The team qualified for the Olympics last year and was expected to perform well in Tokyo, but the Olympics were postponed which will now be played between July 23 and August 8 next year.
The women’s team is ranked ninth in the world rankings. He first secured ninth place in 2018 which is his highest ranking.
The women’s team failed to qualify in the Pro League. In January he visited New Zealand where he played five practice matches. The Indian team, led by Rani Rampal, defeated New Zealand Development Squad 4–0. She then lost two matches to the New Zealand national team. India then beat Great Britain 1–0. In the last match of the tour, India defeated New Zealand 3–0.
After this tour, like the men’s team, the women’s team also participated in the national camp at the Sai Center in Bangalore and prepared for the Olympic Games.
The Indian women’s team will begin their campaign against the world champions Netherlands in the Olympics. Although the Indian team has not faced the Netherlands in any major tournament in the recent times, but they know how the Dutch team plays.
The team’s head coach Shuard Maren and analytical coach Janeke Scopman are from the Netherlands, so both are familiar with the team’s style of play.
“We have not played against the Netherlands in the recent past, but we have watched their matches closely. We will talk to coaches Maren and Janeke about how the team plays,” said Savita, the team’s vice-captain.
He said, “Since both coaches are from the Netherlands, they know how the team plays. There is no doubt that it is an aggressive team and technically very strong. Our first match in the Olympics will be very challenging.”
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