India to be under pressure in Olympic hockey qualifiers

ISLAMABAD: India at home in front of thousands of fans is a daunting proposition anytime but when a place in an Olympic qualifier is at stake, the pressure is even more intense. As the highest-ranked team in Bhubaneswar, India (FIH World Ranking: 5) will be pre-event favourites to finish in the top two of the second FIH Men’s Series Finals, taking place from 6-15 June, thus securing a place at one of seven Olympic Qualifiers taking place later in the year. India, who qualified for this event by virtue of world rankings, have more hockey Olympic gold medals than any other nation and will be determined to be in the mix for a ninth gold medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Recently appointed Head Coach Graham Reid, former Head Coach of the Australia national men’s team, has a wealth of talent at his disposal, including captain Manpreet Singh, top goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and top defender Harmanpreet Singh.

The composition of the pools: Bhubaneswar, India (Men) 6-15 June 2019

Pool A: India, Poland, Russia, Uzbekistan

Pool B: South Africa, Japan, USA, Mexico.