For most of India's men's hockey team members, the Rio Olympics is their debut Games and every little moment could go on to make for a lifetime memory.

Roelant Oltmans

The team management's decision yesterday of not attending the glittering Opening Ceremony at the Maracana Stadium to remain fresh for the next day's opening match against Ireland, didn't go down well with some of the younger players.

Coach Roelant Oltmans however, quickly gauged his boys' pulse, and gave them a pep talk to cheer things up. "Coach Oltmans is brilliant when it comes to understanding us as team. It was his decision that we skip the Opening Ceremony, but he explained to us that this should not be our priority. He emphasised that we must realise we are here to do well as a hockey team and do well for our country, which is looking to us to succeed at the Games.

He said, 'so what if we miss the Opening Ceremony? We will proudly go for the Closing Ceremony after a good performance at the Games," a member of India's hockey team told mid-day from Rio yesterday. The player also went on to rubbish reports that the team was deliberately missing the Opening Ceremony as their uniform didn't fit them well.