India has a rich legacy in Field Hockey at the Olympics and has won 8 Gold Medals so far. It is the most successful side in the Hockey event of the Olympics and has produced some of the finest hockey players in the world.
Between 1928-1956, India won 6 Gold Medals, 24 straight matches and conceded only 7 goals. But the moment astroturf came into the picture, India’s legacy took a big hit. Since then, we have won only 2 Gold Medals.
In the Tokyo Olympics 2020, India broke their 41-year-old jinx of not winning medals. Harmanpreet Singh and co. won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and scripted history.
As India lock horns with New Zealand on 27th July 2024 in their first group-stage game, there will be a lot of expectations from the Indian contingent. India have had a good string of preparatory camps in Bengaluru and Europe and also have had a good coaching setup.
Mental Trainer Paddy Upton and Explorer Mike Horn are part of the Indian hockey team contingent and their experience and expertise in dealing with crunch situations will definitely help the 8-time Gold Medallists at the Olympics.
In a conversation with Sportstar, India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh sounded confident ahead of their opener against New Zealand.
“Our focus is to improve match by match. We are fully ready for tomorrow’s match. We have analysed them well. We have worked on minor fine-tuning today,” Harmanpreet told Sportstar.
“We came here on July 20. So, we had almost one week (to acclimatise). The ground is good. We had three good matches in Holland. We are looking forward to playing well,” he said.
In a notable development before the commencement of the Paris Olympics 2024, India’s veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has said that this tournament will be his final one at the highest stage of the game.
The 36-year-old shot-stopper will be playing his 4th Olympics and would be quite confident of having a good sojourn.
India have a tough group at the Olympics
The Indians have been placed in a tough group and will have some strong teams acting as obstacles. One of their main challenges will be in the form of the Australian hockey team.
The ‘Kookaburras’ bagged the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and have always been the Achilles Heels of the Indian hockey team.
India has lost all their past 5 matches against Australia and have a dreadful record against them. Across all competitions, the two teams have locked horns with each other on 144 occassions, with India winning on only 25 occasions and Australia winning on 99 occasions.
21 matches between India and Australia have resulted in a stalemate.
Some of the other teams in India’s Group are Argentina, Belgium, Ireland and New Zealand.
Also read: Explained: Why Are Italy Not Playing Men’s Football In Paris Olympics 2024?
