Olympic bronze medallist Indian males’s hockey staff will begin its new cycle with a bunch of children aiming to show their mettle when it begins its Asian Champions Trophy marketing campaign towards Korea right here on Tuesday.
India have gained this prestigious occasion thrice since its inception in 2011 and have gained the earlier two editions held in 2016 in Kuantan, Malaysia and 2018 in Muscat, Oman.
India will play their opening match towards Korea on December 14, adopted by their match towards hosts Bangladesh on the following day (December 15).
Their third match might be towards arch-rivals Pakistan on December 17 and on December 19, they tackle Asian Games Champions Japan. The semi-finals and remaining might be held on December 21 and 22 respectively.
Skipper Manpreet Singh emphasised on getting off to begin.
“Korea is a good team and are very capable of slowing down our attack. In this same venue during the Asia Cup in 2017, we had drawn (1-1) against them in the league stage. Hence, it’s important we don’t get complacent against them and ensure our basics are right when we play them tomorrow,” he mentioned.
Speaking concerning the significance of the match, Manpreet mentioned, “The tournament is quite an important one for us as it is our first tournament after the Tokyo Olympics. The new cycle has started for us. If we start well, then our confidence levels will go high,” he mentioned.
Several children have been given an opportunity within the India squad for the match, and Manpreet went on to clarify why doing properly for them right here might be essential.
“Youngsters have been given a chance to be a part of the squad because some of them were unable to get a chance over the past two years as the focus was on the core team preparing for the Olympics. The youngsters have been working hard for quite a while, and hence, they have been given a chance to prove themselves,” he added.
Speaking on the staff’s health ranges earlier than the beginning of the match, the Indian skipper mentioned: “We are in fairly fine condition. We targeted quite a bit on our health on the current camp in Bhubaneswar.
“We are looking forward to see how the other Asian teams have shaped up over these past two years. The tournament will be a good test for our squad,” he signed off.
In the earlier version of this occasion held in Muscat, India had collectively lifted the title together with Pakistan as the ultimate was known as off on account of incessant rains.
