Ever since he made it to the Indian national team, midfielder Manpreet Singh has been going steadily, winning hearts with spectacular display on the turf. He was recently honored with a new epithlet: One of the Eleven players from six countries who made it to the Azlan Shah Eleven.

He speaks his mind on the Azlan Shah Cup, in which India defeated Pakistan twice, to www.stick2hockey.com writer Tazeen Qureshy, just after returning from Ipoh.



Excerpts:

On being selected in Azlan Shah XI
I never expected to get selected honestly. I just focused on my performance and tried contributing for my team. Perhaps, that earned me a place in Azlan Shah XI. I am delighted about it.

On being adjudged as Man of the Match against Pakistan

I am very happy to get it. It was the last match for us in the tournament. The weather in Malaysia was humid that day. But despite all odds, we had worked hard and we got the results. It is only for the team that I got the award.

On India’s finishing only fifth in the Azlan Shah Cup 2013

We went with the development team. A lot of players were inexperienced. Keeping that into account, I would say that we performed well. But, of course,there is a little disappointment for finishing 5th out of 6 teams.

Describing the Penalty Stroke that denied India play for bronze

It was a crucial match for us. Had we defeated the Malaysians we could played for bronze. But this thing has happened in the last minute of the game when we were leading 2-1. Clearly the ball had hit my stick and I was surprised when the umpire gave a Penalty Stroke. I even raised my T-shirt trying to prove that the ball had not hit my body at all. But, nothing came out. Undoubtedly, we were very upset. We even walked off the field. But, our coach Micheal Nobbs encouraged us to play. Even after that, we had our chance to score, we attacked with just a minute left, at least thrice we shot at the goal, but perhaps it was just bad luck that day.

On the standard of Umpiring

There were lot of umpiring decisions this time, which were wrong. It was not just against us but other teams as well.We had to appeal many times. It is unfortunate.

On the team which had as many as 10 new faces

The young players played well. Every player had worked hard and it reflected in their performance. I am really happy with Malak and Mandeep’s performance.

On cancellation of Indo-Pak Series

This series could have been a good opportunity for your young players. But, we respect Government’s decision.