Keeping the Paris Olympics in mind, the Indian men’s hockey team will look to iron out the chinks on the armour when it takes on Germany and Great Britain in the final two FIH Hockey Pro League matches this weekend.
India will be up against world champions Germany on Saturday, while they will lock horns with hosts Great Britain on Sunday.
After the Antwerp stage and two matches at London, India is placed fourth in the points table with 24 points from 14 matches.
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Meanwhile, Germany and Great Britain sit on the sixth and seventh positions respectively, having played seven matches so far.
“We have played some good hockey, but there are still some areas where we need to improve if we want the result to go in our favour,” vice-captain Hardik Singh said.
“Our objective in these last two matches will be to start aggressively and work on our best combinations. We will go step-by-step, try to play good hockey, and most importantly look to keep the momentum going,” he added.
At Antwerp, India started with a 2-2 (5-4 SO) shootout win against Argentina, followed by a 1-4 loss to Belgium. They lost to the same opponent in a shootout 2-2 (1-3 SO) before defeating Argentina in a thrilling match 5-4.
In London, India beat Germany 3-0 before going down 1-3 against Britain in their second match.
“The entire team knows that the London stage of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 matches are very important in our preparations for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
“Therefore, it is important that we don’t take anything for granted and give our best out there,” Hardik said.
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