Rajpal hopes for gold at CWG

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Indian hockey captain Rajpal wishes his boys to give the nation a Diwali gift by winning first-ever men’s hockey medal in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games at New Delhi this October. “Yes, this is my wish to win gold medal for the country in the Games. It would be a Diwali gift to the nation from us,” said ace forward and skipper Rajpal Singh while talking over phone from Pune.

The team has been preparing for the big challenge in the ongoing preparatory camp, getting underway at Pune these days. Indian men’s hockey team has never been to the podium since the game’s 1998 entry to the Commonwealth Games, while their women counterparts have been there twice – winning gold at the Manchester CWG-2002 and silver at Melbourne CWG-2006.

Rajpal was of the view that where playing in front of the home crowd would be an advantage, pressure of putting up top class show would also be there for every Indian sportsperson, participating in the Games.

Rajpal would represent the country in the Games as a skipper for the first time.

The skipper felt that in the Games, the Indian team would have an edge over the mighty Australian team, which otherwise is a major threat in the host team’s way to the podium. “We had defeated Australians by 5-2 in Azlan Shah in May this year. The win is surely a morale booster for us,” said Rajpal. But in the same breath, he cautioned that the fact should not lead the members of the team to over-confident. “They have defeated us in World Cup, held at New Delhi this year before conceding defeat at our hands in Azlan Shah. So we could not afford to take the things lightly,” said Rajpal.

When asked about the grey areas of team, which needed to be worked out before taking on the big challenge, Rajpal said, “The camp is on and we are working on our weaknesses.”

The team is an ideal blend of young and experienced players and is capable of winning the yellow metal, summed up Rajpal. The hockey competitions will begin on October 4 at Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Indian men’s hockey CWG record:

1998 at Kuala Lumpur: finished fourth

2002 at Manchester: didn’t take part

2006 at Melbourne: finished sixth

Group Opponents in CWG-2010 at New Delhi:

Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Scotland.