Bengaluru: Amidst good-byes and farewell hugs, the pre-departure jitters and nervousness soon turned into excitement for the Indian men's hockey team who were cheered on by roaring fans and young hockey players from Hockey Karnataka and SAI Sports Hostel on the team's arrival at the Kempegowda International Airport late on Saturday night.
"It's heartening to see the kind of support we are getting ahead of the Olympics. This will only motivate us to do better," stated Captain PR Sreejesh, who successfully led the Indian team to a historic Silver medal at the Champions Trophy. "We hope to gain some match practice in Madrid. We leave for Rio on July 29 from Madrid. The boys are upbeat, well prepared and eager to start the tournament." he added.
After a ten-day grueling national camp here in Bengaluru, where the focus was on getting the finer details right, the team departed for Madrid in the early hours of Sunday morning where they will
play two friendly matches against Spain before heading for Rio. "The team is eager and ready to challenge ourselves. In the lead-up to the Olympics, we have shown some really good performances. It shows the ability of this team against the top sides in the world. Now the idea is to show and prove that it was not a one-off. We still have to show that we can repeat such a performance in every match at the Olympic Games. Our challenge is to do our best every day in Brazil. If we're able to do so we stand a good chance of a medal." Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans stated ahead of the team's departure.
Earlier in the day, the team was given a grand send off by Hockey India at the Lalit Hotel in Bengaluru. The lunch was hosted by Hockey India CEO Elena Norman along with SVS Subramanya Gupta, President, Hockey Karnataka and Kannan Krishnamurthy, General Secretary, Hockey Bengaluru where they all conveyed their best wishes to the team!
"Every match in Rio will be crucial. Every team will play to win, be it Ireland, Canada or Holland. We can't take anyone lightly. We have our strategy for each team. These are our well-guarded secrets, of course. But we have got a basic structure on the field. For every team and players, we will tackle that with our strategy." Sreejesh concluded with a smile.
