Indian hockey team's captain, Harmanpreet Singh, emphasized that the upcoming European leg of the FIH Pro League serves as a crucial trial ground for India to refine its top strategies and team compositions ahead of the Paris Olympics as it provides the final opportunity to test the players against top opponents.
Departing for Antwerp, Belgium, on Tuesday, the team braces itself for a rigorous challenge, which will ultimately crown this season's champion. Positioned third in the points table, trailing behind the Netherlands and Australia, India are set to face off against Belgium and Argentina in Antwerp from May 22 to 26. Subsequently, they will confront Germany and Great Britain in London from June 1 to 9.
"We are trying out the best combinations before the final squad is selected for the Olympics. Hence, the Pro League outing is crucial in our preparations for Paris as well as for players to make it to the 16-member squad for Paris," said drag-flicker Harmanpreet in a Hockey India release before the team left for Europe.
India, the bronze medallists from the Tokyo Olympics, encountered a setback last month as they suffered defeat in all five of their matches in Australia, casting uncertainty over their readiness for the Paris Games.
Harmanpreet emphasized the team's commitment to rectifying any weaknesses in their performance as they gear up for Paris.
"The team is quite excited to get back on the road again for yet another challenging outing where we will take on world's best teams in the Pro League. We will be travelling on the back of a very intense training camp over the past few weeks where we focused on our conditioning and played intra-squad matches regularly.
"The team is shaping well and the Pro League is an important event for us to iron out the flaws in our execution ahead of the Olympics," said Harmanpreet.
The captain mentioned that the Pro League serves not only to evaluate his team's readiness but also to glean insights into their opponents' strategies.
"We have Belgium and Argentina in our pool at the Olympics along with Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. We play Belgium and Argentina both in Antwerp," the skipper said.
Harmanpreet expressed optimism that after consistently securing third place in the past few seasons of the Pro League, his team is poised to contend for the title this time.
"In the past few seasons of the Pro League, we have finished at third position. It will be great to finish on top this time and we are quite optimistic about it," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
