Tokyo Olympics 2020: India hockey captain Manpreet Singh hopeful of winning a medal at the showpiece event

Manpreet Singh, the skipper of the Indian men’s hockey team has said that he is hopeful of his team clinching an Olympic medal in Tokyo.

The country has been starved of an Olympic medal in hockey since 1980. India has since then participated eight times in the Olympics but their performance in the showpiece event has been dismal.

However, Manpreet does not want to dwell on past performances and wants his team to focus on their strong areas.

"We do not like to look too much into past records; every game is a new learning curve. We are going into the Olympics with a positive frame of mind and a good run of results," Manpreet told IANS in an exclusive interview.

"We are confident going into the Olympics in Tokyo. We managed to get the better of current World Champions Belgium, which is an indication that we are going into the tournament with a lot of positivity. We will try our best to play good hockey on the pitch and try to win a medal at the Olympics," he added.

The midfielder further stated that the team needs to focus more on their defence to compete at the highest level against leading oppositions like Australia, Netherlands and Belgium. He also praised the coach for helping the team improve their performance and building team morale.

Manpreet also wished the women’s hockey team the best of luck and he is hopeful of the women’s team coming back home with a Gold medal.