New Delhi: Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal has said a good show in the series against Argentina will boost her side’s confidence heading into this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Rani Rampal also said that it is important to play as many matches as they can in the build up to the Olympics.
The Indian women’s team will hit the restart button and begin their Olympic preparations next week. They will be travelling to Argentina. This is the first time India will be playing competitive games in almost nine months.
“If we play to our potential against Argentina, then we will attain (gain) a lot of confidence for the all-important Olympics. In the Olympics we are aiming for a medal,” Rani was quoted as saying in a Hockey India (HI) media release.
“Hopefully, we can make history in Tokyo and make India proud. We are going to give our absolute best in every match we play this year,” she added.
India will compete in eight matches against hosts Argentina, starting 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,” Rani said.
The skipper is looking forward to seeing how her teammates responds in match situations after a long break.
“All the players in the team are feeling very confident about their games. 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,” Rani pointed out.
HI also has been in talks with different nations to also organise a tour for the men’s team. They played their last international match against Australia February 22 last year, at the FIH Hockey Pro League.
Men’s skipper Manpreet Singh said his side are keen to get some much-needed match practice ahead 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 said.
:A few matches against a good team will help us prepare for the Olympics. This year is very important for us. We have practiced very hard in the last few months and have raised our game to a level that is close to which we usually operate in international games. If we play to our potential at the Olympics in July, then we will surely bring glory to India,” he added.