Exclusive | 'Mindset is clear. We are going to Paris for a medal': Indian hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh

Hockey has given 12 out of 35 Olympic medals to India, the most in any sport, including a record eight gold medals. The last gold medal, however, came in 1980 under the captaincy of the great Vasudevan Baskaran. This was 44 years ago when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not yet an active politician, Manmohan Singh did not yet liberalise the country’s economy, Roger Federer had not been born, and the revolutionary Maruti Suzuki 800 had not been launched.

Rolling down the years, Modi is now in his third term as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is retired from politics, Federer is retired from tennis with 22 Grand Slam titles, and the Maruti 800 has been out of production for a decade.

In hockey, it took a little over four decades to end the medal drought and it was a bronze in 2021 at Tokyo Games that signalled the revival of India’s so-called national sport at the highest pedestal of the sporting ecosystem.

Manpreet Singh captained the men’s hockey team when they edged a strong German side 5-4 in the playoff match for the medal.

It’s impossible to forget the emotional scenes after that bronze medal win often described as historic by the Indian media. Skipper Manpreet was in tears and legendary PR Sreejesh, who is set to retire after Paris 2024, climbed atop the goalpost to etch the moment in our memories forever.

One of the goalscorers in that down-to-wire course-changing match was drag-flicker and defender Harmanpreet Singh — who will captain India at the Paris Olympics with eyes firmly fixed on the goal of emulating Baskaran.

“What we did at the Tokyo Olympics last time is our best memories,” Harmanpreet tells Firstpost. “We trained very hard the last time and the bronze medal matters a lot to us.

“Since the squad was announced for Paris 2024, players who experienced the Tokyo high are talking within the squad that getting this opportunity is a big deal and the upcoming Games is a massive opportunity for all of us.

“The mindset is clear. We are not going there just to participate. We are representing our country at the Olympics. The target is to go and win a medal,” declares the former Junior World Cup champion.

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Harmanpreet was handed India’s captaincy ahead of the 2023 World Cup at home and while the start was nothing less than baptism by fire with the team finishing a disappointing ninth, the 28-year-old, who also featured at Rio Olympics 2016, has left a mark on the team with his leadership over the months, guiding them to gold at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou.

India also won the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 under his captaincy and coach Craig Fulton’s guidance which has seen India prioritise defence more as compared to being a more counter-attacking side under Graham Reid.

Set to begin the toughest test of his career so far, Harmanpreet is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead. The Olympics is a different beast as compared to any other sports tournament. It’s a collection of the best in the world where temperament dictates the result more than talent.

Harmanpreet and the senior players who tasted the success of the bronze medal are focussed on keeping the the whole 16-member squad in their best possible mental state before entering the cauldron of expectations, emotions, and pressure.

“That mindset is most important,” Harmanpreet says while sharing his key areas of focus ahead of the Paris Games. “We are sharing the whole experience with the players who were not part of the bronze-medal winning team.

“We are training very hard. The focus is very strong. The mindset in training is also the same. When people get tired we make everyone aware that the Olympics will be a lot tougher than this.”

India’s squad for Paris 2024 includes five players who will be making their Olympic debut - Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Raj Kumar Pal, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh. Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra from the 2021 squad have retired, while Surender Kumar and Dilpreet Singh have not been selected.

Nilakanta Sharma and Krishan Pathak will travel with the squad as alternate players.

What’s Harmanpreet’s advice to the debutants?

“The Games Village is very big. There will be excitement to check out places, and the food that is on offer. But we must control our desires because everything will be available there. So you need to maintain control,” he asserts.

“Whenever we go to the Olympics, even the coach gives you the freedom to explore places including the gym, recovery session rooms, explore everything but the main focus has to be on recovery and the game. The focus will be very important. Recovery will be crucial and eight matches will be played back to back. It’s going to be crucial how disciplined we stay.”

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Besides leading the team by example, Harmanpreet will also be needed to make his stick talk at the Paris Olympics as he is the most reliable goal-scorer for a team that has struggled with their forwards for a while.

With a whopping 184 goals in 219 matches, the penalty corner (PC) expert is considered one of the best drag-flickers in the world. In the 2023 Asian Games, Harmanpreet struck 13 times and twice in the final as India booked their ticket to Paris.

India will once again rely on Harmanpreet’s power and precision for goals.

They also have veteran Amit Rohidas and young Sanjay to perform the PC duties but they have scored a total of 30 goals together in 219 matches

At Tokyo, Harmanpreet was India’s top scorer with six goals but he was ably assisted by now retired and PC expert Rupinder who smashed in four goals.

The fault line seems pretty obvious but the skipper is not bothered. Harmanpreet has full belief in Rohidas and Sanjay.

“There are three drag-flickers along with me - Amit Rohidas and Sanjay. Amit has been with me for very long and has scored some crucial goals. Sanjay - we have seen at the junior level he is a good drag-flicker. The opponents have not seen him much and that can be an advantage. It’s also important how smartly you make the decisions and also the calls that the coach takes. So it’s not going to be just about myself.”

Nonetheless, each training session for the Indian team has ended with practicing PCs.

“Impossible to count (number of PCs taken in training grounds). Weekly we have three sessions with the team on attack and PC defence and besides that we all drag-flickers after every session, we practice a bit. Because that’s how it is during matches, when you are tired after running and playing, you have to push yourself and re-focus and take drag-flicks, so we are doing our best,” Harmanpreet reveals.

The hockey assignment for the team starts with a Pool B contest against New Zealand on 27 July.

India also have the mighty Australia and Belgium in their pool, but Harmanpreet is not looking that far ahead.

“It’s a strong pool. Whenever we go into a tournament, our focus is always on the first match and then we move on to other matches. We are going to do the same and follow our step-by-step process and hopefully, we will have the quarter-final, semi-final, and then final,” he signed off.