Indian Men’s Hockey team created history in the recently concluded Olympics 2020 where they registered a historic Bronze medal after 41 years under the leadership of talismanic skipper Manpreet Singh.
The credit should be given to other star players in that lineup which include PR Sreejesh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Lalit Upadhyay.
The last medal which India won in Hockey was in 1980 under the leadership of V Bhaskaran and the credit should be given to the entire team but most probably to two players which include Zafar Iqbal and Mohammad Shahid.
As Hockey India decided that they will not be sending their team to take part in the upcoming commonwealth games in Birmingham due to 10 day UK norm which the federation clearly denied expressed their intentions to FIH and now their entire focus is to qualify for the next Paris Olympics 2024.
Indian Men’s Hockey team coach Graham Reid stated that the clear message has been passed to boys not to sit on the laurels of Bronze medal and start fresh in the ongoing national camp scheduled at SAI campus Bengaluru.
According to latest developments, COVID related protocol is strictly followed inside the camp as the press release from national federation stated that all the players and support staff has undergone rapid antigen test and currently staying in separate rooms as per quarantine rule.
The next assignment for the national side will be the Asian Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Dhaka in December followed by Asian Games which will be conducted in China in 2022. The national team is eyeing on these future events to qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. India’s next assignment will be FIH World Cup in 2023 before Paris in 2024.
Indian Hockey Team received a grand welcome post their return to Olympics 2020 and heavy cash prizes were given to them for the history that they have created in the marquee events.
