~ The Indian Males’s Hockey Group accomplished the house leg of the FIH Hockey Professional League on a excessive, and remained unbeaten on house turf in Rourkela in regulation time ~
Rourkela, 26 February 2024: The Indian Males’s Hockey Group ended their house leg of the FIH Hockey Professional League 2023/24 on a excessive word, registering a convincing 4-0 win in opposition to Eire on Sunday. With this victory, the workforce stored up their file of remaining unbeaten (in regulation time) on the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, the world’s largest seated hockey stadium, which was packed to the brim with die-hard followers from the area thronging to look at their favorite hockey stars in motion.
The Indian facet led by Harmanpreet Singh and Vice Captained by Hardik Singh registered 2-2 (8-7), 1-1 (2-4), and 2-2 (0-3) draw in opposition to Spain, the Netherlands and Australia respectively in regulation time which enabled them to climb as much as the third spot within the FIH Hockey Professional League 2023/24 factors desk behind the Netherlands and Australia.
Expressing their gratitude to the hockey lovers of Odisha, Harmanpreet Singh stated, “Enjoying in Rourkela is at all times particular for us. The unimaginable help we bought energized our efficiency and we now have continued to be unbeaten right here, with out dropping a single sport in regulation time. We’re completely happy to maintain up this unbeaten file in Rourkela.”
The ace dragflicker can be the third-highest goalscorer this season with a complete of six objectives. “I feel we got here again from our South Africa Tour feeling mentally and bodily contemporary. We did lots of team-building actions there that made us a stronger unit. I feel we carried out properly right here, and stood as much as the problem posed by prime groups of the world,” he said, lauding his workforce’s efforts.
India started their FIH Hockey Professional League 2023/24 season on the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar with a 4-1 win in opposition to Spain. Of their subsequent sport, they recorded a 2-2 (4-2) draw in opposition to the Netherlands in regulation time, earlier than dropping 4-6 to Australia in a high-scoring sport and adopted it up with a 1-0 win in opposition to Eire earlier than arriving in Rourkela.
Hardik Singh reiterated his Captain’s views and said, “I feel we confirmed lots of character in these matches, each in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. We constructed on our efficiency from match to match and we significantly improved our defence. These matches have been essential in our preparations for the Paris Olympics and now we’ll return to the drafting board and analyse how we are able to additional up our efficiency from right here on.”
The Indian Group will resume their FIH Hockey Professional League 2023/24 marketing campaign in Antwerp, Belgium beginning Might 22 the place they’ll tackle Belgium and Argentina adopted by matches in opposition to Germany and Nice Britain beginning June 1 in London’s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
