With the Europe tour, India men’s team to call on International Hockey

The restrictions on sporting activities since the Covid 19 pandemic in the last march have finally come to an end. The Indian men’s hockey team will be making its first international visit ever since the last march to prepare for the Olympics with the tours of Belgium and Germany this month. On Sunday, The India men’s hockey team will leave for Krefeld, Germany from Bangalore with 22 players and six support staff. On February 28^th and 2^nd march, they are supposed to play against the home team. On March 6^th and 8^th, they will be playing against Great Britain in Antwerp, Belgium. 

P.R Sreejesh who is a goalkeeper will be the captain of the Indian team whereas the deputy for the 17-day tour has been chosen as Harmanpreet Singh who is a drag-flicker. 

Last year in February, the men’s team played the FIH hockey pro league matches which are regarded as their last participation until the outspread of Covid.  The matches were played against Australia in Bhubaneswar. The team broke the record of holding the country’s highest rank by elevating to the fourth position in the FIH world ranking. It proved India’s capability of giving superior performances against Australia. 

In January, the players joined back training which is why the team has been staying at the sports authority of India’s campus in Bangalore. Last month, the Indian women’s team resumed their game with the tour of Argentina.  With events such as the junior world cup and the Olympic Games is knocking at the door, the junior women’s team visited Chile to get the required exposure before the games.  Graham Reid who is the coach of the Indian men’s team said that they are extremely obligated to have received the chance to visit Europe and are expecting to have their first competitive games within 12 months. 

Reid expressed his gratitude towards the efforts and the decisions of the SAI as it opened a door for the team to get exposure before the important matches of the year.  He said that it is always a welcoming experience to play with the top 10 ranked teams like Great Britain and Germany as it will provide them with good competition and assist them extremely in the preparation of their FIH hockey pro league and the Olympic games. As they are following strict training for the last few days, the tour will give their interpretation of where they stand and will create a benchmark to prepare for the upcoming events. 

Harmanpreet has agreed to the fact that it would indicate where they stand and how they have to proceed further with the preparation of the game. They are very excited to get into the mode of competition although the weather of Europe is extremely cold where they have a week to adjust. 

A bio bubble has been decided to be set up by hockey India and the host national association. They are supposed to stay there whenever and wherever they will be traveling for competition and training.