The Indian men’s hockey team will begin its campaign on July 24 against New Zealand. Reigning Olympic champions Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and host Japan are the other teams in Pool A.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s hockey team is simulating the Olympics at its training base in Bengaluru to prepare for the Tokyo Games, Ramandeep said the Indian players were assessing their bodies and testing their skills by replicating the team’s Olympic schedule in training.
Ramandeep Singh is an ace in the forward line of the Indian senior team. Ramandeep was appointed to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police by the Punjab Government under the sports quota in December 2016.
They are currently replicating the Olympic Schedule, three teams with different combinations from within the Olympic core group have been formed and the coaching staff has created an atmosphere that is similar to what it would be like at the Olympics.
Ramandeep, who was part of the Rio Olympics said about how they practice for the whole day as they wear the Indian kit and get ready for the match as if they are facing a tough international opponent, they also do team activation (pre-match drills) just like they do before an international game to start. They also line up for the national anthem before the start of the match.
There is a lot of excitement within the group as the team selection trials were underway and this exercise of replicating the Olympic schedule is also a good way to test their bodies with two back-to-back games and then a day’s rest. Though they missed out on traveling for international matches due to the pandemic, he feels this exercise of playing internal matches is really bringing out the match mentality to the fore.
The national camps for the men’s and women’s hockey teams resumed at the Sports Authority of India center here in last August after a 45-day break because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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