Rani Rampal believes good present in opposition to Argentina will enhance India’s confidence

Indian ladies’s hockey staff captain Rani Rampal feels {that a} good present within the sequence in opposition to Argentina will enhance her aspect’s confidence heading into this 12 months’s Tokyo Olympics.
Indian ladies’s staff will hit the restart button and start its Olympic preparations with the tour of Argentina, beginning subsequent week, virtually a 12 months after their calendar was disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic.
“If we play to our potential against Argentina, then we will attain (gain) a lot of confidence for the all-important Olympics, where we are aiming nothing short of a medal,” Rani was quoted as saying in a Hockey India (HI) media launch.
“Hopefully, we can make history in Tokyo and make our country proud. We are going to give our absolute best in every match we play this year,” she added.
India will compete in eight matches in opposition to hosts Argentina, ranging from January 17 to 31.
“We are very excited to make our return to the international circuit. The year 2020 was really tough for us, however, we continued to practice our skills at the national coaching camp.”
The skipper is trying ahead to seeing how her teammates responds in match conditions after an extended break.
“All the players in the team are feeling very confident about their games and it will be interesting to see how each one of them performs in a match situation after staying away from the international circuit for almost one year.”
While the ladies’s staff is gearing up for his or her subsequent task, HI has been in talks with completely different nations to additionally organise a tour for the lads’s staff, which performed its final worldwide match in opposition to Australia on February 22 final 12 months on the FIH Hockey Pro League.
Manpreet Singh in motion for India. (File)
Men’s skipper Manpreet Singh stated his aspect is eager to get some much-needed match follow forward of the Tokyo Games.
“We are very excited about getting back into the international circuit. We are really looking forward to playing against an international team before the Olympics,” Manpreet stated.
“Just a few matches in opposition to a superb staff will assist us put together for the Olympics. This 12 months is essential for us. We have practiced very onerous in the previous couple of months and have raised our recreation to a degree that’s near which we normally function in worldwide video games.
“If we play to our potential at the Olympics in July, then we will surely bring glory to our country. We have to go into the Olympics with a mindset of clinching a medal,” he added.
The Indian junior males’s and ladies’s groups have additionally not performed a match since 2019 and 2020 respectively.
“We are really looking forward to the FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2021 and the AHF Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2021, which will be held in India and Bangladesh respectively,” stated junior males’s staff defender Sanjay.
Junior ladies’s defender Ishika Chaudhary expressed that the AHF Women’s Junior Asia Cup is essentially the most fast aim for her aspect proper now.
“We have been working in direction of the AHF Women’s Junior Asia Cup since we returned to the nationwide camp. It’s been nice to focus on a match and preserve getting higher at our recreation each day.
“The AHF Women’s Junior Asia Cup is very important for us since it will give us a chance to book a place in the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup,” stated the 20-year-old.