Tokyo Olympics: Well begun is half won!

Manpreet Singh

The World No. 4 Indian hockey team begin its quest for that elusive Olympic hockey medal with their first group match against New Zealand (No. 8) today and skipper Manpreet Singh, 29, stressed upon the significance of a good start.

"This time, we are just making sure we don't underestimate any team. We have to be careful of New Zealand. It's the Olympics and any team coming here are at their best and will be wanting to play well and obviously win a medal here. This time, we should not take any team for granted. The rankings don't matter, and we need to start well to finish well," Manpreet said during a virtual interaction after a training session at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on Thursday.

Manpreet will be featuring in his third Olympic Games and is keen to make this one count after the Indians finished with the wooden spoon (12th place) at London 2012 and lost in the quarters at Rio 2016 (eighth place).

"It's obviously a great achievement for me [third Games] as this time I am leading the team. At the previous two Olympics, we didn't play well so this time we want to play very well and finish on the podium," added the hardworking midfielder.

Besides NZ, India have Olympic champions Argentina, World No. 1 Australia, hosts Japan and Spain for company in Group A. Group B comprises world champions Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and South Africa. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Just 24 hours after the NZ clash, India take on the Aussies (on Sunday) and Manpreet admitted that the Kookaburras are a hard nut to crack. "We cannot afford to give them [Australians] any easy opportunities. They are good at penalty corners and have some very skillful players. We have to mark them very tightly and force them to stay away from our striking," he said.

Finally, on the great expectations given Team India's hockey history at the Olympics (11 medals including eight gold), the India captain said it can be a boon as well as a bane. "It's a great opportunity but can also be a burden because we have this rich history at the Olympics. We are just enjoying the moment right now and are not taking any pressure. That [rich hockey history] will always be a matter of pride," he concluded.

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