Keen to complete unfinished business of podium finish in 2023, says Manpreet Singh
Indian hockey captain Manpreet Singh has revealed that his team is keen to complete the unfinished business of a podium finish when the country hosts the World Cup again in 2023. India lost 1-2 to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
India have won the bid to host the men’s hockey World Cup for the second consecutive time, becoming the first country to stage four editions of the tournament after Mumbai (1982) and New Delhi (2010). The 2023 edition will be held from January 13 to 29, but India will announce the host city later.
"We are really excited to learn that India has won the bid to host the FIH Men's World Cup again in 2023. We could not succeed in 2018, though we had a realistic chance of making the semi-final of the World Cup in 2018. The loss against the Netherlands (in the quarterfinals) was a huge disappointment for us but now that India is set to host the World Cup again, we see this as yet another opportunity to complete the unfinished business," Manpreet told PTI.
But with more than three years to go before the World Cup dawns on the team, the skipper wants his squad to focus on delivering their targets at the major tournaments prior to the 2023 World Cup.
"We have ample time to prepare for the next edition of the World Cup. In terms of performance, our focus will be on the major tournaments that we will be playing from now till 2022-2023. This also includes the Asia Cup which we would like to win again and qualify for the World Cup even though we get an automatic qualification as hosts. Our first priority at the moment is to do well in the FIH Pro League and use the platform to prepare well for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where we seek a medal. A good show in Japan will only lay a solid foundation in the build-up to the World Cup in 2023," Manpreet said.
The 27-year-old stressed further on the need for the host of talent coming through the junior team to use their opportunities to good effect.
"We have a strong pool of talented youngsters in the senior and junior set-up and the next two-three years they need to step-up their game and use all the opportunities that come their way," Manpreet added.
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