India Men Team to take on France in their 1st match of the Europe Tour

After securing fourth in the recent FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 in Belgium, the India Men Team is again all set for another tour to Europe for matches against France and Spain, where India will start their campaign today with their first match against France.

India will play two matches against France and they are looking forward to repeat their success against the European team. India faced France in both the Semi-Final Round of the FIH Hockey World League 2012-13 and 2014-15, and defeated them in both the encounters. In the FIH HWL Semi-Final 2012-13, the Indian team outplayed the European team by 6-2, in which young Mandeep Singh scored two back-to-back goals. In the 2nd season of FIH HWLSF, India again met France in the Semi-Final round in Belgium and defeated them by 3-2. This match is remembered for Devindar Sunil Walmiki’s debut and his first international goal for the Senior Men Team.

Playing again with France in the Europe Tour, India will field their experienced players such as drag-flicker VR Raghunath, defender Kothajit Singh and forward SV Sunil. Along with them, the Tour will also see the return of SK Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba and Mandeep Singh, who are taking this opportunity to enhance their skills for the international level matches. Led by Sardar Singh, the team also includes young players such as Talwinder Singh and Mohd Amir Khan, who are looking forward to gain experience in the international arena.

On the other hand, France is gearing up for their upcoming UNIBET EuroHockey Championships 2015, which will be held from 21-29 August in London. World’s top teams such as Germany, The Netherlands and England will feature in this tournament. Playing against FIH Rank # 8 India, France will get a vital opportunity for their practice before the all-important tournament.

Roelant Oltmans, Director, High Performance and Indian Men Chief Coach: “Though we have beaten France in our previous encounters, we are not taking them lightly. They are preparing for the EuroHockey Championships 2015, which is a very important tournament for them and they will utilize all the opportunities perfectly before the start of the tournament. The Indian boys are well-prepared and we have strategies to counter them. The Tour will help us to understand our strategies better and the strength of the players. I am very hopeful that we will start our campaign with a positive note.”

Captain Sardar Singh: “France is a good team and they have some good players. We can’t take them lightly and we will play with our man-to-man strategy. In our last match in FINTRO HWL Semi-Final in Belgium, they stunned us with their speed and an early goal. This time, we won’t give them room for surprise attacks and will try to keep the ball possession in our side. Some key players are back in the team which will strengthen our defence and forward line. We have some young players also, it’s very good for them as well as for us to see new passion in the team. We are expecting a good result in the first match and we will give our level best during this tour.”

India will be playing their first match on 3rd August 2015 against France and will be played at 21.30 IST.