Indian Men's Hockey Team Captain Harmanpreet Singh exuded confidence ahead of their campaign opener on Saturday against New Zealand here at the Paris 2024 Olympics in their quest for the ninth Gold. India last won a gold medal in hockey at the Olympics at the Moscow 1980 Summer Games.

Grouped along with reigning Olympic Champions Belgium, Argentina, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, the Tokyo Olympics Bronze medalists India need to get off to a good start, believes captain Harmanpreet Singh. "We had some really good practice matches before we arrived in Paris and the experience as a unit in Switzerland was something unique, nothing like what we have done in the past. We are in a good place mentally and physically to begin our campaign. The atmosphere here in the Games Village is extremely good. Meeting with athletes from our Indian contingent and to see how much support we have within our own contingent has been quite overwhelming and this motivates us all the more to do well," expressed Harmanpreet Singh, a world class ace drag flicker, who will be playing his third Olympics.

Speaking about New Zealand in specific, they have been a strong opponent for India (Head to Head at the World Stage, the two former Olympic Champions have met each other seven times in the World Cup, clinching victories in three matches, India and New Zealand have won thrice each and one match ended in a draw) - and memories of their 3-3 (4-5 SO) loss at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year are a reminder to not get complacent against this opponent. "We have always seen New Zealand as a strong opponent and have discussed this team in detail during our team briefs. It is good to be reminded of the World Cup match against them, so we know we can't drop the momentum at any point in the game. It's important for us to start well and keep up the pressure through the game," he opined. 
In the last five outings India however have won four of the last five matches.

Adding to Harmanpreet's views, Vice Captain Hardik Singh said, "The moment we have been eagerly waiting for is finally here and the team is super excited. Of course, there is some nervousness too and that is always good before any big game. We have learnt to deal with pressures of an event like the Olympic Games, we are here on a mission to change the colour of our medal and yes, we are in a tough pool with teams and they are serious contenders for a medal in Paris but on a good day, we have proven to be better than the rest and that's the mindset we will carry into this tournament," he signed off. 

The 16-member Indian men’s hockey team that will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11 also features veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, playing his last Olympics and midfielder Manpreet Singh, both of whom will be making their fourth Olympic appearance. Manpreet Singh was India’s captain at Tokyo 2020. In addition five players, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Raj Kumar Pal, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh, are set to make their Olympic debut in Paris.

Indian squad:

Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh; Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay; Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad; Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh and Standby players: Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak

India will take on New Zealand at 2100 hrs IST on Saturday, 27th July in their first Pool B match. 

Photo Above: An upbeat Indian Men Hockey Team in their Paris Olympics opening ceremony ceremonial kit will eye their ninth Gold after a long gap of 44 years.