Bengaluru, April 24 (IANS) India mens hockey mid-fielder Sumit has stated that postponement of the Tokyo Games has not changed their belief of making a podium finish at the Olympics.
The 2020 Olympics have been postponed to July 23-August 8, 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the entire sporting calendar to a grinding halt.
“Olympics is the ultimate dream and the postponement has not changed our belief of a top-3 finish,” said Sumit.
“We get more time under chief coach Graham Reid and personally he has instilled a lot of confidence in me.
“He encourages me by saying I am versatile and can play in any position and emphasises I need to focus more on attacking hockey and positioning inside circle.
“We youngsters have another year to prove worthy to make the team for Olympics,” he added.
Having begun the year on a positive note with confidence-invoking performance against the world’s top 3 teams in the FIH Pro League, the team had set course to what would have been a memorable outing at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I remember when we won the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2014 and steadily kept improving performance in the lead up to the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup in 2016, the team had started believing that we can win the gold. That self-belief and attitude is what eventually helped us win the title,” said Sumit, who was also part of the 2016 Junior World Cup winning squad.
“We felt that same belief after performing well against the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Every single player in the core group believes we can finish top 3 in the Olympics,” he added.
He said that the team was in the middle of intense training when the nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic abruptly halted their training.
“We were in excellent rhythm when training was suspended due to lockdown. But the team feels we are better off in SAI Centre, Bengaluru where we still get to come out of our rooms and use running track and do core exercises.
“I can’t imagine being stuck at home back in Haryana with no option for any basic fitness training,” expressed Sumit, who played a key role in India’s midfield during their campaign against the Netherlands earlier this year at the FIH Hockey Pro League.
The midfielder also admitted these are difficult times for any athlete.
“This is probably the first time that we have not trained hockey in so long. Getting back to that fine rhythm will take some time but since we are focused on maintaining fitness, we are in a better position than many of our opponents. From here on, in the lead up to the Olympics next year it’s important to stay fit and stay injury-free,” he said.
–IANS
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