New Delhi, 24 April 2015: Following a glorious bronze medal finish at the recently concluded 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the gritty Indian National Hockey Team was seen practicing rigorously at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium today. The practice sessions are in preparations for the approaching India- Japan Series which is schedule to take place from 03 May- 09 May 2015 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The coach Paul van Ass is working meticulously on the team and preparing them to be able to apply their new skills attained under his training. The team looked focused and was seen fine-tuning their skills in order to give a hard time to the opponents in their first clash slated for 03 May 2015.

Speaking post the practice session, Coach Paul van Ass said, “For the last few days, we have been working hard with FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final keeping in mind. We know there will tough teams we are going to face but nothing is impossible for our team. This preparation camp and the upcoming Japan Series will be very important for us. We will play at the highest level against Japan and will bring out the best performance from the team. I believe that best performance come out of high pressure. For me defense line-up is not with four-five people only, it’s the whole team-effort. So we are working to strengthen defense-side in the whole team. We are hoping for the best performance in the Japan Series and will take-out some positive results.”

Captain Sardar Singh said, “As of now, we are focusing on the preparation camp and the upcoming Japan Series. Our only job is to implement strategies on field and bring-out best results out of the matches. These results and inputs will help us in the FIH Hockey World League Semi-Final round. After the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the team is in better shape and very confident. We just need to strengthen our mental and physical stability, which help us in our team-work. We are looking forward to the Japan Test Series and expecting a good show.”

The India-Japan Test Series is scheduled from 03 to 09 May 2015 in Bhubaneswar.