Indian men's hockey team captain Gurinder Singh has said ahead of the FIH Hockey5s opening match against hosts Switzerland on Saturday that the fast-paced nature of the game made quick adaptation to the situation an absolute necessity, adding that the training sessions here had helped the side a great deal. With just a day to go for the start of the inaugural FIH Hockey5s edition, the Indian men's team is in readiness to leave a mark in the shortest format of the game.
After playing hosts Switzerland and Pakistan on the opening day, India will face Malaysia and Poland respectively on June 5. "We are really excited to be here in Lausanne, it's a great atmosphere out here. We also had good training sessions, and we are fully prepared for the tournament," said Gurinder. "We will be up against some quality teams and since the format is new, it will be a challenging task for us. It is fast-paced and we will need to adapt to the situations as quickly as possible," he added.
The nine-member squad features Pawan, Sanjay and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, who were part of the silver medal-winning team in Hockey 5s at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. Speaking about the team's preparedness and balance, Gurinder said, "It will require a lot of speed and skills. We've worked on short passes, 3D skills and the structure as well. The use of perimeter boards is a new element in this format, and we will try to take advantage of it.
We have got three players in the team, who have played this format before, so their experiences have been really helpful for us in our preparations." Vice-captain Sumit said, "It's a new format for us and we are super excited to play this version of the game. There will be high-scoring and neck to neck games, so our focus will be to play attacking hockey right from the start. "We've worked on all the aspects of the game, and the key focus will be to use the perimeter boards effectively. We have got a good experienced team, some of us have played this format before, so we are confident and looking forward to this fun filled tournament," Sumit concluded.