Indian men’s, women’s hockey captains eyeing 2021 Olympic medals

New Delhi, Jan 1 : The Indian men’s hockey team captain, Manpreet Singh, is looking ahead to end the country’s four-decade long medal drought at the Olympic Games when the competition is held in Tokyo this year. While the men’s team won an Olympic medal in 1980 — a gold — the women’s team has never won a medal at the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza.
“We are very excited about getting back into the international circuit. We are really looking forward to playing against an international team before the Olympics. A few matches against a good team will help us prepare for the Olympics,” said Manpreet.
“This year is very important for us. We have practiced very hard in the last few months and have raised our game to a level that is close to which we usually operate in international games. If we play to our potential at the Olympics in July, then we will surely bring glory to our country. We have to go into the Olympics with a mindset of clinching a medal,” he said.
The Olympics, originally scheduled to be staged last year before being postponed due to Covid-19, are to be held from July 23 to August 8.
The men’s team are placed in Group A, which includes Olympic champions Argentina, world No.2 Australia, Asian Games champions and hosts Japan, New Zealand, and Spain.
On the other hand, the Indian women’s team is placed in Group B along with World Cup winners the Netherlands, World Cup runners up Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, and South Africa.