Basking in Tokyo Olympics afterglow, Manpreet Singh sets sights on Asian Games 2022

New Delhi: It’s been close to three weeks since the Indian men’s hockey team ended the 41-year wait to the Olympic podium , but the captain of the history-making side is yet to come to terms with the winning feeling. For Manpreet Singh, days since he climbed the podium have been a seemingly endless blur. Criss-crossing the country for a slew of felicitations, the 29-year-old has barely found time to catch his breath. “Paaji, where do I begin? The days since we won the bronze medal match have been crazy. So many functions, so much respect…it is hectic, but I am not complaining,” he chuckles over the phone. Since landing in the national capital from Tokyo, Manpreet and his boys have been hosted by the Prime Minister, the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Odisha, besides a number of smaller felicitation ceremonies in his hometown where he spent a few hours before flying out. “I still can’t believe this is happening, to be honest. Sometimes, I don’t believe we have won an Olympic medal. The feeling will probably sink in when I get some time to reflect on it in peace,” Manpreet, who is supported by Red Bull, said. “Sometimes, you have to pinch yourself. It feels surreal. In all these days, I have managed to find time to catch the rerun of the medal ceremony on my phone. It will always be a very special moment.” Amid the commotion though, the goals - both immediate and long term - are well within his sight. Lack of rest and training can spell trouble for elite athletes, and Manpreet’s next aim is to ensure his fitness levels remain optimum. Competition-wise, next year’s Asian Games are on his radar. “The first objective will be to assess our fitness . Modern hockey is all about speed, power, and fitness, so we would like to hit our peak levels soon. The three-year Olympic cycle will have its own challenges. [caption id=“attachment_9907361” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Skipper Manpreet Singh described his ten-year international career as a “roller-coaster journey.” Image: Red Bull[/caption] “In terms of tournaments, Asian Games will be our next target. We would like to win it and seal the berth for the Paris Olympics. I remember our failure to win the 2018 edition of the Asian Games sent us on a long and complicated qualification system. So this time, we would like to get the qualification out of the way as soon as possible and then prepare our plans for the Olympics. In Paris, we would like to change the colour of the medal, for sure. I remember standing on the podium in Tokyo and telling myself that in the next Olympics, I would like to stand in the centre,” he said. Among the areas that the team will start working on once the national camp resumes is optimising goal-scoring opportunities. “We would like to work on our finishing. A lot of times we create wonderful chances but falter at the final step, so that is one area to be looked at. Good teams don’t give you too many chances, so whatever opportunities we get, we should be good enough to make use of them. Our penalty corner conversion was quite good at the Olympics, so we would like to keep up the good work in that department. Personally, I would like to be more dynamic in the midfield and feed more balls to the forwards and create more goal-scoring opportunities,” he added. Into his tenth year as an India international (senior team), Manpreet described his career as a “roller coaster journey”. “When I walked into the Indian team in 2011, I was very raw. The seniors who were part of the 2008 debacle where we failed to qualify for the Olympics told me how gutted they were and how the team needs to restore the glory of Indian hockey. Then, in 2012, we played the London Olympics but finished 12th out of 12 teams. I can’t describe that feeling. It felt so bad. We felt we were good for nothing. “From there, to win the Asian Games in 2014, bronze at the FIH Hockey World League Final in 2015, silver at the Champions Trophy in 2018 have been some of the biggest highlights of my career. Of course, Rio 2016 was a disappointment, as was the 2018 World Cup at home, but to finally have an Olympic medal in the tenth year of my senior international career completes a nice roller-coaster ride,” he signed off.