Hockey: India announce squad for Belgium tour, Manpreet Singh to lead
Other Sports | September 20, 2019 15:27 ISTMidfielder Manpreet Singh will continue to lead the side of Indian Hockey team for the tour to Belgium, which begins on September 26.
Midfielder Manpreet Singh will continue to lead the side of Indian Hockey team for the tour to Belgium, which begins on September 26.
World no. 5 India were far from impressive, especially after thrashing world no. 21 Poland 10-0 in the Azlan Shah Cup less than three months ago.
Manpreet led the Indian team to an unbeaten streak at the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat where the team was declared joint winners with Pakistan.
India has never defeated the Netherlands in the history of the World Cup, but Harendra refused to dwell on the past.
As per the protocol of the tournament, the players were not entitled to be present at the VIP lounge.
Like everyone else, Manpreet too expects the Dutch to sail into the last-eight round.
Harmanpreet Singh and Simranjeet Singh scored the goals for the Indian team in a 2-2 draw against Belgium.
India's next game is against Belgium on December 2. The match is going to be a high-voltage one as Belgium also thrashed Canada by 2-1 in the opening match of Hockey World Cup.
It is a very proud moment for me personally and I owe this to my Coaches over the years, my teammates and my family for their constant support since the very beginning.
India are now leading the six-team standings with six points from two wins, just ahead of Australia.
After the CWG failure, Manpreet was replaced by PR Sreejesh as the skipper for the last edition of the Champions Trophy.
Not only the poor conversion but defensive lapses too played a huge rule in India's defeat, which means the silver medallists from the last two editions will now fight with England in the bronze medal match on Saturday.
Varun Kumar and Mandeep Singh struck in dying minutes of the game as the Indian men's hockey team pulled off a thrilling 4-3 win over England to top Pool B in the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Malaysia is ranked way below in the FIH charts but Manpreet Singh's side has been known to slip up when least expected, the opening game against Pakistan being a testimony to that.
Manpreet, 25, said the CWG hockey competition is of a high standard with several top teams and his side would have to play their best to win a medal.
After having ended 2017 by winning the bronze medal in the World League Final in Bhubaneswar, the Indian hockey team began preparations for the upcoming assignments including Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Commonwealth Games this year.
For India, Ramandeep Singh (29, 53), Nilakanta Sharma (42) and Mandeep Singh (49) were the goal scorers before the shootout.
With a young team that features four debutants, Manpreet stressed on the importance of this tournament.
Despite enjoying the lions share of possession and having better scoring chances, the in-form Indian strikers found it difficult to breach the resolute Korean defence in their first Super 4s encounter on Wednesday.
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