Tokyo: The 2-5 loss to Belgium in the Olympic semifinals Tuesday has been disappointing for the Indian team. However, the men’s Indian hockey team is not ready to brood over the loss. Captain Manreet Singh and star custodian PR Sreejesh said the side have no time to dwell on the heartbreak. They have to refocus for the bronze medal play-off Thursday. They also pointed out that World Champions Belgium were the much superior side of the day.
“It is really hard for me right now because we came with a winning mindset. Unfortunately we didn’t win the match. Now we need to focus on our next bronze-medal match. We need to work and we need to get the medal,” Manpreet said after the loss.
“It’s a great honour for us reaching the semifinal after a long time, but now I think we need to focus. This is because the next match is going to be really important for us. At least we should win a bronze medal for the nation,” added Manpreet.
The skipper said having toiled hard for the last five years to reach this level, India deserved a better result Tuesday. “It’s always been hard work and togetherness. This team have been together for the last four or five years. We have worked really hard to be reaching this level. We deserve better, and unfortunately we couldn’t get it today,” Manpreet pointed out.
Sreejesh agreed with his skipper and said the loss against Belgium is a thing of the past. He also asserted that the team need to focus on returning home with a medal from here.
“Disappointed, but you don’t have time to worry about that. You need to forget about that and think about the future. Now we still have a chance to win a medal and that’s more important for us than crying at this time,” asserted the goalkeeper.
“It’s more important for us to think about the future, watch the match, think about where we lost, where we committed the mistakes, rectify that, and move on,” he added.
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Senior India defender Rupinder Pal Singh too felt that all is not lost in the ongoing Tokyo Games for them.
“Of course it’s heartbreaking for us, reaching the semifinal after 41 years and we were here to win a gold medal. That was our aim, but we lost today. The great thing is we have a chance to finish third in the next game so we will focus on that,” he said.
Rupinder said a medal from Tokyo will be big for the sport back in India. “If we win that, it’s going to be for us only. Of course there are a lot of people behind this and supporting us. But we are going to win for us first and then (everyone else). That’s a great motivation, too,” the tall drag-flcker said. “We need to work hard for the next game.”
Manpreet and Sreejesh, meanwhile, were also in awe of the women team’s feat in the ongoing Games. They and wished the women’s side luck for the maiden semifinal appearance Wednesday against Argentina.
“They (eves) played an amazing game against Australia. We wish them the best of luck for their semifinal (against) Argentina. I hope they win,” Manpreet said.