Bhubaneswar: After Monday’s high-intense practice match against The Netherlands, the Indian team hit the pitch for their practice session on Tuesday at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. In today’s session, the players had tough fitness drills and implemented various variations on team combinations. Aiming to give their best during the practice sessions, the Indian team was seen discussing various strategies on team-work.


Speaking on the sidelines of the practice session, Roelant Oltmans said, “The team is very excited for the upcoming tournament and has been practicing consistently in all the training sessions determined to give a tough fight to the opponents. The team is looking confident and geared up to play its first match against Germany, ranked 3rd in the FIH rankings. Going by the past records of the Hero Hockey World League 2014, where the results stood in favour of India, the first match was knotted between the two teams while the other match saw a superb victory of the Indian team against Germany, thus giving the Indian team an advantage on taking over Germany this time. I hope the team performs with the same enthusiasm which facilitates them every time to pull off a win against the competitors.”


Speaking on the upcoming tournament defender Rupinder Pal Singh said, “We are packed with confidence this time and aiming to continue the winning spree which is surely not an easy task but I am sure our team is in the full form to take the challenges. We are continuously practicing hard to improve our skills each day on the field and off the field. Having played against Germany earlier in International tournaments I am definite our first match against Germany will be an interesting show. And I look forward to giving a tough time to the opponents and finishing the tournament leading the pool table.”



India plays its first match with Germany on 6 December 2014 (Saturday).


The Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014 will be aired live on Ten Sports.