Olympic postponement, lockdown fail to diminish Indian hockey team's spirit

Manpreet Singh, the FIH International Player of the Year, speaks to Khaleej Times on India's chances at the Olympics and how the team is training amid the lockdown in India (AFP and supplied photos)

Manpreet Singh doesn't turn heads in the cricket-obsessed India where the indefinite postponement of the Indian Premier League has caused as big a headache as the Covid-19 pandemic.
But you would still doff your hat to the India's men's hockey team captain who recently became the first Indian in history to lay his hands on hockey's equivalent to football's Ballon d'Or - the FIH Player of the Year award.
A versatile half-back, Manpreet's hockey journey would not have begun if he hadn't found his biggest inspiration in his Punjab village.
"I looked up to Pargat Singh as a youngster. He is from the same village (Mithapur in Jalandhar, Punjab) as I am and he had a huge fan following in that region. Even though back then, I never realised what it took to be an international hockey player and play for India, all I knew was to become as famous as he was," Manpreet told Khaleej Times of his admiration for Pargat, arguably the most versatile player Indian hockey has ever produced.

Manpreet Singh is the first Indian to win the World Player of the year award
Despite Pargat's indomitable spirit and exemplary leadership skills in the 1980s and 1990s, India continued to frustrate hockey lovers at the two biggest events, the Olympics and the World Cups.
Now the onus is on Manpreet and his team to end India's 40-year wait for an Olympic medal.
And remarkably, the 27-year-old player who led India to Asia Cup victory in 2017 doesn't feel the pressure of expectations.
"It always works as a motivation and I believe sometimes, pressure is a good thing, it helps bring out the best in a player," he said.
"As a team, we like to take one tournament at a time and focus on the areas which we think needs improvement. The past one year, we have constantly worked on our shortcomings and have tried to improve as a team."
The Indian team under Manpreet is gaining confidence on the back of their impressive performances against the top guns at the 2020 FIH Hockey Pro League.
Having stunned the Netherlands 5-2, India beat them on penalties in their next game before losing narrowly to 2016 Olympics silver medallists Belgium. They then shocked Australia with another win on penalties after losing to them 3-4 in the previous game.
This was just before the Covid-19 pandemic brought all sporting events to a standstill.
"The result of our hard work paid off when we did well against the top three teams in the world (Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands). For now, we just want to stay focused on maintaining our fitness and be ready to go once the circumstances permit us to resume high-intensity hockey," Manpreet said.  
Crediting head coach Graham Reid for helping build unity in the team, Manpreet says the Olympic postponement and lockdown in India amid the coronavirus outbreak have failed to diminish the spirit of his team. 
"We were in the middle of a high-intensity National Coaching Camp in Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, when the news of the Olympics being postponed was told to us by our coach. After the initial disappointment about the postponement, the team felt like there was a silver lining to it," he said.
"We have improved as a team since Graham took over as chief coach and it gives us another 15 months to work together under his guidance for the Olympics.
"We believe we can improve our play and also this gives time for some of the youngsters who have shown a lot of promise to get used to the demands of hockey at this level." 
The coaching staff, according to Manpreet, has done an incredible job to help the team maintain their fitness levels at the time of social distancing.

Manpreet says players have been given individual training charts that includes distance-running and indoor bodyweight exercises for strength training during the lockdown
"Though the nation-wide lockdown was announced the very next day of Olympics postponement, and hockey training was suspended, the coaching staff has ensured we continue to maintain our fitness levels by designing a customised training program which involves a lot of indoor body-weight training and individual runs," Manpreet said.
"We have been fortunate to spend our days during lockdown here at the SAI Campus which has ensured several safety measures to ensure we have a healthy environment. So, in that sense I think we are in a better place to restart training when situation permits and the Olympics postponement has not changed our objective which is to win a medal in Tokyo.
"But yes, the lockdown has been quite challenging for everyone around the globe. But it's important to look at the brighter side of things and utilise this time to relax, calm down and detox from our everyday routine.
"Since we have been training through the year and have constantly been in competition, we are using this time to de-train, rest our bodies and mind. We have all been given individual training charts that includes distance-running and indoor bodyweight exercises for strength training.
"We carry out these exercises independently and report back about the same to the coaching staff via video meeting, though we are all based out of the same campus we are following social distancing," said Manpreet whose other sporting idols include German hockey legend Moritz Fuerste and Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I love Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a fantastic leader and I love his attitude. I love the way he carries himself on the field and stays focused," said India's number seven.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com