‘Azlan litmus test for youngsters’
BENGALURU: Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Surender Kumar Wednesday said the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will be a good opportunity for youngsters to test themselves ahead of the qualifying events for the 2020 Olympics.
India will field a young squad in the tournament with the likes of Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit Kumar (Jr), Gurinder Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Gurjant Singh, among others. They have shown potential after making their international debut with the senior team.
“Azlan Shah Cup has always been a great platform to test youngsters and see how they adapt to international standards. Their experience will grow ahead of the major (Olympic Games qualifying) tournaments we play this year,” said Surender.
“Some of these players have done very well at the FIH Champions Trophy and 2018 Men’s World Cup and carry a lot of confidence. And we have been speaking to them regularly about handling pressure especially in situations when we are one goal down or two goals down. Their good show will only be beneficial for our team in the lead up to the 2020 Olympic Games,” he added.
The Malaysia-bound team has been training at the Sports Authority of India campus here. Surender said the team felt that training in the afternoon will help them acclimatise to the weather in Ipoh, where the temperature will be around 34-36 degrees when India play their matches. “It will be just about the same conditions in Ipoh but maybe a bit more humid,” said the vice-captain.
Speaking about India’s chances in the tournament, starting on March 23, with Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Canada, Poland in the fray, Surender emphasised that their goal is to win gold. “The goal is to win gold but we won’t be going in thinking of the final. We’ll take it step by step. Important to start well,” he said.
Surender credits his growth in the team to compatriot Rupinder Pal Singh. “Rupinder guided me during our days at Hockey India League. He kept saying I will get a chance in the national camp.”