The Paris Olympics hockey schedule is out and all of the champion groups are pitted in a single group. Does that put the Indian males’s hockey crew, the bronze medallist in Tokyo, beneath stress? 

“It’s all about that day. Olympics is a place where you go and think about that day,” mentioned PR Sreejesh, the veteran goalkeeper, whose gorgeous save in opposition to Germany within the bronze medal match remains to be a part of Indian hockey folklore. 

Hockey on the Podium assembled some prime performers of Indian hockey on the stage. And Sreejesh gave an perception into the Indian crew’s thought course of, how they’re already aiming for a medal in Paris additionally. 

“The quarter-final, semi-final and the final, those three matches will be really important,” mentioned Sreejesh. 

Savita Punia, a legend in girls’s hockey, was part of the highs in Tokyo and the low within the qualifiers in Ranchi, the place the ladies’s crew did not make the minimize for Paris. 

“We always give our best. Sometimes we don’t get what we expect. We have to come back strong. We will come back strong,” mentioned Savita. 

Sreejesh, in the meantime, had a phrase of recommendation for the ladies’s crew. “Forget about Paris. Preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics start now.”

Viren Rasquinha, the previous Indian males’s hockey crew captain, detailed about how issues have modified in hockey through the years. “Intelligence in training and the science in preparation have improved by leaps and bounds. Rolling substitutions have added a different dimension to the game,” he mentioned. Rasquinha additionally batted for the Hockey India League’s revival. 

Amit Rohidas had a tattoo in one in all his fingers after successful the medal in Tokyo. The different hand has been left vacant for Paris. “Please continue to support us the way you have been doing,” he mentioned.