Indian men’s hockey team will return to FIH Hockey Pro League action when they take on the Olympic Champions Belgium in a crucial two-legged contest on Saturday and Sunday at Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Plein in Antwerp.
Currently placed second in the pool table with 27 points in 12 matches, the Indian team are coming off a successful home leg. After starting their home leg with a 5-4 win and a 3-5 loss against Spain, the Indian team went on to secure match points against every team they played- Argentina, England and Germany.
Speaking ahead of the two-legged tie against the hosts Belgium, Indian Men’s Hockey Team Captain Amit Rohidas said, “We’ve had a successful home leg, and I must say we have gone from strength to strength in the season so far. This will be the most important phase of the FIH Hockey Pro League. We will be facing two strong teams at their home, so it will be challenging. We also got a good amount of time at the National Camp in SAI, Bengaluru to introspect on our performances. From structure to finishing, we’ve worked on all the aspects of the game. The plan will be to simply repeat what we’ve done in the training.”
Meanwhile, Vice-Captain Harmanpreet stated, “It’s been a great season so far. Many young players got a chance to play against top teams and they’ve grown with each match. We are in a good position, and our focus will be to carry forward the momentum we have gained from the home leg.”
The last time both teams faced each other was during the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Semi-Final where India lost 2-5 and Belgium went on to win the Olympic Gold medal.
“Look it was in the past, and this is a different stage. Of course, our aim will be to win both the matches and put ourselves in a strong position in the points table, but for that, we will have to play good hockey. Our focus will be on executing our skills,” Amit said.
Belgium are also tied at the same points (27 points in 12 matches) but are placed third in the pool table due to a lesser goal difference compared to India.
“The points table is getting intense, and we’ve got only four matches left that too against teams like Belgium and Netherlands. This is the challenge we were waiting for. We will go all out against them,” concluded Harmanpreet, who is currently the leading goalscorer in the league.
The double-header between Indian Men’s Hockey Team and Belgium will be played on Saturday and Sunday.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
