London [UK], May 25 (ANI): Indian hockey followers will probably be handled to high-octane matches this weekend as India tackle rivals Belgium and Great Britain because the European leg of the distinguished FIH Hockey Pro League begins tomorrow. Currently main the pool desk with 19 factors from 5 outright victories in eight matches and two from shootouts, India will look to hold on with their profitable methods after they tackle Belgium on Friday and Great Britain on Saturday within the Lee Valley Stadium in London.
While hosts Great Britain will probably be using on their current success in Christchurch, New Zealand the place they received 5-2 and 6-1 towards New Zealand, and in addition beat Australia 2-1 and 3-3 (4-2 SO) to realize 19 factors from eight video games with 4 outright wins and three from shootout. Meanwhile, Belgium will look to climb up the charts from their present place of No.7. They have thus far performed simply 4 matches on this version of Pro League and have received a match every towards Argentina and Germany.
Having arrived in London on Monday, the Indian facet is upbeat and are wanting to play thrilling model of hockey. “As a team, India have built a healthy rivalry against Belgium particularly over the last 5-6 years. We enjoy playing this opponent and the team is always pumped up to do well against them,” expressed Captain Harmanpreet Singh forward of tomorrow’s match towards the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 runners-up.
Since the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, India has taken on Belgium in 19 matches of which Belgium has received 9 occasions whereas India have received 8 matches and have drawn two video games. India final performed Belgium in Antwerp final 12 months, the place they misplaced 2-3 and received 3-3 (5-4 SO) within the earlier version of Pro League. “If you look at the stats, we have always produced close encounters against Belgium. The mind frame that we are in at the moment, we are confident of yet another good show against them,” added Harmanpreet, who additionally occurs to be the best purpose scorer within the League thus far with 11 targets.
Against Great Britain, India final performed on the Tokyo Olympic Games within the Quarter Final match and convincingly beat them 3-1. “Though we haven’t played Great Britain regularly, we are aware of the team and the players, and what they can bring to the table particularly while playing in front of their home crowd,” acknowledged India Vice Captain Hardik Singh.
“We had a few fans visit us during our practice session and we absolutely love the vibe here in London whenever we have played in this stadium. We look forward to all our Indian hockey fans coming and supporting us over the next week,” added the younger star.
This would be the Indian staff’s first outing underneath Chief Coach Craig Fulton, and of their earlier outing within the prestigious League matches at dwelling, India remained unbeaten towards reigning World Champions Germany and Australia which helped them prime the factors desk. In Europe, they may tackle the Netherlands and Argentina in Eindhoven, the Netherlands following their matches right here in London.(ANI)