Tokyo Olympics: Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal focused on success

The men's and women's hockey teams are now at SAI Centre, Bengaluru owing to COVID-19 restrictions.

With just 74 days remaining for the Tokyo Olympics, the mood in the National Camp in SAI Centre, Bengaluru which houses both Indian Men and Women's Core Probables continues to be optimistic as the players are going about their preparations with zeal. 

The Indian team captains expressed their disappointment over being unable to participate in the coming tours due to the travel restriction. But. they stated that the players continue to remain focused on their mission to succeed at the Tokyo Olympics.

" The postponement of the FIH Pro League Games matches against Germany and Spain left us extremely disappointed. This is because those matches would have certainly helped in our preparations. But we understand these are really unprecedented times, and there are travel restrictions in place."

Manpreet further emphasized the team's focus remains undeterred and every player is giving his 100 per cent in this mission to win a medal.

"We strongly believe we have the best chance to win a medal at the Olympics. This belief has made us motivated and optimistic. We have planned our training in such a manner that we peak at the right time. We are also clocking long hours in the sun to acclimatize to the hot conditions in Tokyo," stated Manpreet. 

Women's skipperRani Rampal expressed relief that all players who had tested positive recently will now resume training this week. "We are relieved that all those players who were COVID-19 positive are all doing fine and have resumed training. We are taking all precautions so that we are stay fit in the lead up to Tokyo," expressed Rani. 

"With travel restrictions in place, we understand we will need to remain in SAI Centre, Bengaluru and train. This is perhaps the same situation for some of the other countries too. Despite these setbacks, we will continue to pursue our goal of doing well in Tokyo. The next 75 days is crucial, and we are upbeat as a group," stated Rani. 

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