ACE drag-flicker Sandeep Singh is well aware that a medal in hockey at the London Olympics is going to be a tough ask, particularly since India are placed in Group 'B' alongside New Zealand, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium
The failures in the Olympic test event at the London Olympic Park’s Riverbank Arena earlier this month — where India lost all their fixtures — could be testimony to that.
Fourplay: Hockey stars (left to right) Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Shivendra Singh and SV Sunil during a promotional event in Mumbai yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK
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“In the Olympics, we will take each match as it comes. Our immediate goal is to get used to playing on the blue turf. It’s good that we will have enough time to get acclimatised to the surface as we will be playing on the blue turf in the Azlan Shah Cup (in Ipoh) and four-nation tournaments in Spain and France,” Sandeep said.
Sandeep along with Sardar Singh, Shivendra Singh and SV Sunil were announced brand ambassadors of Mansion House Sugar Cubes at a city hotel yesterday. Shivendra, however, felt the exposure trip would help them in a big way ahead of the Olympics. “We played against the best teams there after almost a year. That would surely boost the team’s confidence. Now, the tours to Spain and France will help us adapt to the European climate,” Shivendra felt.
Sardar, meanwhile, couldn’t stop criticising the blue turf. “Defending on that turf wasn’t easy, since it was slow and bumpy. Even a small mistake inside the ‘D’ could prove to be dangerous. So, given the fact that this was first outing on the blue turf, we weren’t that bad afterall,” said Sardar.u00a0
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