Good performance in the first match in Olympics will give right momentum to the team: Ramandeep

Indian men’s hockey team forward Ramandeep Singh believes that a good performance in the first match of the Tokyo Olympics will give the team the right momentum. The Indian men’s team has been placed in Pool A along with defending Olympic champions Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and hosts Japan. She will begin her campaign in Tokyo on 24 July. She will take on New Zealand in her first round robin league match.

Ramandeep said, “A lot will depend on how we perform in the first match. A good result against New Zealand will give us the right momentum for the rest of the tournament. We are currently copying the Olympic program. Three teams with different combinations have been formed from the Olympic core group and the coaching staff has created an atmosphere that will be like in the Olympics.

The coaching staff at the ongoing National Coaching Camp at the center of Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru for the Olympic Core Group is trying to adapt to the international competition environment, where they play in-house matches as part of the team selection process. are.

Ramandeep, who was a part of the team in Rio Olympics 2016, said, “Of course there is a lot of enthusiasm in the core group and this exercise of repeating the Olympic program is also a way to test our body with two back-to-back matches and then a day’s rest. good way. We are focusing on recovery when there are back-to-back matches. We missed traveling for international matches due to the corona pandemic. In such a situation, I feel that this exercise of playing internal matches is bringing out our match mentality.