Times of India: To retire or not is Sardar’s decision: Manpreet Singh

By Jaspreet Sahni

NEW DELHI: If they feel scorched after the Rio Olympics, nobody will blame them. After an initial high, the low was dispiriting. The draw against Canada started the slide and the loss to Belgium turned India’s hockey campaign into a vertical dip at the Games.

The team returned three quarters dejected – consolation being that the eventual gold medallists, Argentina, couldn’t beat India at the group stage.

It’s not easy to pick yourself after seeing the work of four years being shredded to pieces by just one defeat. Reaching the semifinals would have ticked quite a few boxes but Belgium left PR Sreejesh & Co to lick their wounds.
India climbing to No. 5 after the historic Champions Trophy silver headlined the team’s Rio campaign. Fanatic hopes circled around a medal, practical ones lay in a top-five finish. None of it could be achieved.

A player’s perspective around such sympathetic stage is always gripping – how they receive the low and get back on the field to start preparing again, for another four years. TOI caught up with star midfielder Manpreet Singh to get an insight into all that. Excerpts:

How difficult was it to digest the quarterfinal defeat in Rio?

It was very hard! It did not work out as planned and the whole team was really disappointed as we could have ended with a higher position but we are learning and growing from every mistake. Having said that, there were lots of good things to learn.

You beat Ireland, almost held Germany, beat Argentina and lost narrowly to the Dutch. But Canada draw must have hurt.

We got many chances but couldn’t avail those. We conceded silly PCs (penalty corners). The team had analysed Canada’s videos before the game and went out to play full press because of which we created many chances. But it was not our day. Perhaps we were short of luck as well.

Winning and losing is part of sport but was the team surprised losing to Belgium?

Yes, because we were leading 1-0. We made some mistakes. That match hurt us the most. Our rhythm was good, but we couldn’t play at the same level. We were in a state of shock. We all hoped to do well, but the result was like ‘how did it happen!’

As a player, what do you tell yourself in order to get back to training after a heartbreaking campaign?
Rio Olympics was an evolving and learning process for me personally to do even better. I need to move on from the shock defeat (against Belgium) to focus better and train harder for coming matches.

How will you rate Sreejesh as captain considering he led India to Champions Trophy silver before the Rio low?
Sreejesh bhai is a good goalkeeper who has a lot of passion in what he does. As a captain he keeps on motivating us with his cheerful and positive attitude. No matter what the result is, he stands tall in supporting us.

You played as central midfielder, Sardar was in attacking line. What’s your opinion about that change?

Sardar playing as a central striker was coach’s plan to balance the team. It works well for the team with his skills and experience and also he defends very well.

After Rio, India dropped from No. 5 to 6 in FIH rankings. Do you think winning consistently is still a problem?
We won the Champions Trophy silver but went down (in rankings) after the Olympics. We have to regain the winning momentum to get back up. We can’t change what has happened. Next up is Asian Champions Trophy in Malaysia for which we will soon assemble in Bangalore.

Sardar might have played his last Olympics in Rio. Is he close to retirement in your opinion?

No, I don’t think so. He’s doing very well for the past couple of years to be where he is now but after all it is his decision.

What difference did you see playing under Sreejesh now and Sardar before?

I don’t see any difference because on the field we consider all 11 players as captains with their own responsibilities. Everyone knows how to play in the assigned roles.

Have you set targets for yourself in terms of what you want to achieve in your career? Captaincy next?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s a team game. Whether I’m the captain or not, I feel all the 11 players share the same responsibilities. My next target is to work really hard, get out of my comfort zone, push India into top three teams in world rankings and win an Olympic gold.