Final Up to date: January 02, 2023, 12:46 IST
Sukhjeet Singh says India are specializing in strengthening some areas. (Pic Credit score: Hockey India)
Sukhjeet praised Harmanpreet, who will captain the Indian crew within the event, saying he might be a key participant for them
India are set to open their marketing campaign on the FIH Males’s Hockey World Cup 2023 towards Spain on January 13. With only a few days left for the beginning of hockey’s greatest event, ahead Sukhjeet Singh candidly spoke in regards to the temper on the crew camp.
India arrived in Rourkela on December 27, 2022, and have been coaching onerous on the new ‘jewel’ of hockey, the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium over the previous week to arrange for hockey’s most esteemed competitors. Sukhjeet, who will compete in his first-ever World Cup, expressed gratitude to Indian Males’s Hockey Group Chief Coach Graham Reid for his fixed help.
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“I’m extraordinarily delighted and grateful to Chief Coach Graham Reid who gave me this chance to be part of the squad, after seeing my performances over the previous 12 months. I’m actually excited to play as not solely is that this the most important stage of the game, however the FIH Odisha Hockey Males’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023 can be being performed on our house floor. It’s all the time actually thrilling to play hockey in entrance of Indian followers,” Sukhjeet mentioned.
Sukhjeet, made his Senior crew debut in February 2022, within the FIH Males’s Hockey Professional League 2021/22 encounter towards Spain, and scored a purpose within the match. Since then, he has earned 16 caps for India and has scored 4 objectives for the nation. Sukhjeet opened up on the bonding between all of the gamers within the squad and mentioned that everybody is worked up for his or her opening match towards Spain.
“There may be true crew spirit amongst everybody within the camp. All of us are actually pumped as much as get the ball rolling in our first recreation towards Spain. Everyone seems to be feeling constructive and is supportive of one another. There’s a actual sense of unity which is thrilling to see,” he mentioned.
“We have now heard that the tickets in Rourkela are all offered out so we all know the stadium might be jam-packed. So, it additionally feels good to see the passion amongst followers,” Sukhjeet added.
India are positioned in Pool D towards Spain, England, and Wales, and Sukhjeet believes that whereas the oppositions are robust, having performed all three groups over the previous 12 months will assist India in making ready for the challenges.
“In our Pool, we’ve got Spain, England, and Wales. We performed towards Spain and England within the Professional League final 12 months. We additionally confronted off towards Wales on the Commonwealth Video games 2022. So, we might be trying again at these performances and select the positives and negatives to arrange ourselves accordingly,” he mentioned.
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When requested in regards to the crew’s coaching periods in Rourkela below the steerage of Coach Graham Reid, Sukhjeet didn’t supply any specifics, however he did state that the crew is specializing in strengthening some areas the place they struggled in the course of the five-match check sequence towards Australia that befell between November and December.
“We performed a five-match check sequence towards Australia. Whereas loads of positives got here out from the tour, there have been nonetheless a number of areas the place we felt we may enhance. So, we’re working upon these areas within the coaching,” he mentioned.
Sukhjeet additionally praised Harmanpreet Singh, who will captain the Indian crew within the event, saying he might be a key participant for the crew.
“Harmanpreet Singh is among the finest dragflickers on the earth proper now and we’re glad that he’s the Captain of our crew. All of us are assured that he’ll lead us nicely and we’ll help him utterly all through the event,” he signed off.
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