New Delhi, Aug 8: The Indian men’s hockey team has been clubbed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan and will play the big-ticket match on September 30 in the Asian Games, while the women’s side has South Korea and Malaysia among others in its pool.
Placed in Group A, besides Pakistan, the Indian men have Asian Games champion Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan against whom they will begin their campaign on September 24, while the women’ side, who are also in Pool A, will be up against Hong Kong and Singapore besides South Korea and Malaysia. The Indian women will start their campaign against Singapore on September 27.
“We are placed along with some strong teams in our pool, including Japan, who won the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. But we will treat all teams at par and will not be taking any competition lightly,” Harmanpreet Singh, who is currently leading the team at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy said in a release.
“We are already getting a chance to compete with some of these nations at the Asian Champions Trophy and we will look forward to using this experience to our advantage in the future.
“Our coaches have always instilled in us that we need to be prepared for all our rivals. We will study all our opponents for the Hangzhou Asian Games, re-watch all videos to learn about their strengths and weaknesses and prepare our plans accordingly.”
The Group B in men’s section comprises South Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia, while the women’s teams in Group B will comprise of Japan, China, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
After playing Uzbekistan, the Indian men’s side will lock horns with Singapore on September 26 and Japan on September 28 before rounding off their group campaign with games against Pakistan and Bangladesh on September 30 and October 2 respectively. The Indian women’s team will look to go for the gold after winning the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
“We are placed along with some strong teams in our pool. But we are confident that the work that we have done over the past year at the camp and training session will help us achieve good results in the competition,” skipper Savita said.
“Hangzhou Asian Games is an important event, especially with a chance to earn a direct Olympic qualification. All the players are unified by the common goal to perform their best at the Games and if we can do that, then we are in with a good chance to finish at the podium, irrespective of which teams we face in the competition.”
All hockey matches will be played at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, China. The men’s final will be played on October 6, while the women’s title clash will be held the very next day. (PTI)
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