A disappointed side coming off the pitch at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Deodoro, the players stuck to their oft-repeated mantra of “No Excuses” when discussing the game. India were ranked seventh in the world when the draw was made, while they moved up to the fifth rank after the fine show in the Champions Trophy, where India secured the silver medal.
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“We’ve had plenty of games against Great Britain and we’ve got a pretty good track record”. Athletes who have matches tomorrow, we have allowed them rest. India won the 1936 final by a margin of 8-1, which is also the joint biggest in a Gold-medal match at the Olympics.
The Indians countered and their pressure paid off as Irish defence conceded the fourth penalty corner and this time set-piece expert Rupinder Pal made no mistake in converting it into the goal (2-0) in the 28th minute.
“The USA will be a competitive side, they are fast and fit”.
“The sports that are now arriving from the preparation camp (to the Olympic village), we’ve had the boxers in yesterday, and they said it was absolutely fantastic and that’s the noise that we’re getting from all of the sports that are up there: that it’s the best pre-Games training camp that we’ve ever put on”.
The team is led in goal by 2015 FIH Goalkeeper of the Year David Harte, who is one of the few full-time hockey players on the team.
“We will be hoping to improve on their 12th place showing at the 2012 London Games”.
Rio de Janeiro, Aug 6 (IBNS): Indian hockey team commenced their Olympic campaign with a bang as they defeated Ireland by 3-2 on Saturday. They have some classy players and then some different skills. “I am happy, we started the tournament with a win and full points”, he said adding, “It was a good performance by my boys”.
Having failed to live up to the hype four years ago, the Indian archers have arrived about 15 days early to acclimatize themselves as they hope to make their mark by clinching at least one medal in the women’s team event. “I think we are OK”. “They are easy to unpick and counter-attack which falls to our style of play”, Nance said.
“Everything is very pretty here in Rio, both the qualification and the finals field are looking good to me”, Gabriela said.
Germany might be twice Olympic champions defending their title but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat.
Our Oceania neighbours are positioned just below the Aussies in the current world rankings and, according to Nance, always promise a close game.
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Despite the seemingly never-ending Olympic drought, the Irish had chances to qualify in 2008 and 2012 that ended in heartbreak.
