The Olympic bronze medalist Indian men’s hockey team will begin their new round with a group of youngsters at the start of their Asian Champions Trophy campaign against Korea here on Tuesday.
India has won this prestigious event thrice since its inception in 2011 and has won the last two editions held in Kuantan, Malaysia in 2016 and Muscat, Oman in 2018.
India will play their first match against Korea on 14 December, followed by their match against hosts Bangladesh on the next day (15 December).
Their third match will be against arch-rivals Pakistan on December 17 and they will face Asian Games champions Japan on December 19. The semi-finals and final will be held on December 21 and 22, respectively.
Captain Manpreet Singh insisted on a good start.
“Korea are a good team and very capable of slowing down our attack. It is at this place that we drew (1-1) against them in the league stage during the 2017 Asia Cup. So, it is important that we play against them. Don’t get complacent and make sure our basics are right when we play them tomorrow.”
Speaking about the importance of the tournament, Manpreet said, “The tournament is very important for us as this is our first tournament after the Tokyo Olympics. A new cycle has begun for us. If we start well, our confidence level will go up a lot.
Many youngsters have been given opportunities in the Indian team for the tournament and Manpreet explained why it would be important for them to do well here.
“The youth have been given a chance to be a part of the team as some of them did not get a chance in the last two years as the focus was on the core team preparing for the Olympics. The youngsters have been working hard for a long time and hence they have been given a chance to prove themselves.
Speaking on the team’s fitness level ahead of the start of the tournament, the Indian skipper said: “We are in pretty good shape. We paid a lot of attention to our fitness recently at the camp in Bhubaneswar.
“We look forward to seeing how other Asian teams have shaped up over the past two years. The tournament will be a good test for our squad,” he signed off.
In the previous edition of the event held in Muscat, India had jointly won the title with Pakistan as the final was called off due to incessant rain.
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