Bengaluru, Oct 5 (Hockey news) Indian men's hockey team chief coach Graham Reid says the focus of the ongoing national camp will be on setting future priorities after the historic bronze medal-winning show at the Tokyo Olympics.
He expressed happiness on the support extended to the players by Sports Authority of India (SAI) Bangalore centre before the Tokyo Olympics despite facing numerous challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The boys are all excited to resume training and we are looking at our future engagements," Reid said.
After a well-deserved break following the Tokyo Olympics success, the Indian hockey players resumed training here on Monday.
According to a release issued by SAI, all COVID-related protocols were being strictly followed in the camp.
The release further stated that all the players and support staff have undergone Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and are staying in separate rooms as per quarantine rule. "They are undergoing outdoor training in a different slot and are not mixing with other campers of SAI Bangalore. The revised SOPs of the SAI allows for outdoor training." Indian team's assistant coach Piyush Dubey said the players are now refocusing on the future engagements.
"Our entire focus for the time being is on the Asian Champions Trophy in December this year and this month long camp shall mainly target on improving the physical conditioning of the players," he said. The team is likely to participate in the Asian Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Dhaka in December, followed by the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham in July-August next year and the Asian Games in China in September 2022.
India's next assignment will be the FIH World Cup at home in January 2023, before the Paris Olympics in 2024.
India captain Manpreet Singh thanked the administration and staff of SAI Bangalore for working overtime to provide them all facilities during their prolonged training camp prior to the Tokyo Olympics.
The team was felicitated on its return to the campus of SAI Bangalore in a grand manner on Monday with the junior players according the players a traditional welcome.
Also Read : Hockey domestic season starts with inaugural sub-junior academy national championship
News Source : PTI
