Men’s hockey at the Asian Games is Harmanpreet Singh and company’s top priority while they are in Hangzhou.

In his first press conference as the head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team in May, Craig Fulton stated, “To qualify for Paris by winning the Asian Games is our number one aim. “To be Asia No. 1 is definitely one of the goals that we want to achieve and be that consistently,” he continued.

Hangzhou has been paved with events like Pro League games, an invitational competition in Spain, and even the Asian Champions Trophy. Gold at the Asian Games is an honor, but earning a spot in Paris 2024 is equally significant.

India defeated Japan and Korea in the 2018 tournament’s group stage by scoring a massive 76 goals in five games. But in the semifinal, they lost to Malaysia. Many hockey fans must still be troubled by the visuals from the defeat, much as Manpreet Singh would be if he had been sitting on the field in shock at the time. Around him, his teammates exhibit similar signs of astonishment. India lost the penalty shootout after twice allowing leads to slip. Harendra Singh, the coach, afterwards referred to it as “unpardonable.”

But since then, things have improved. The Indian team was strategically disciplined under Graham Reid for the most part, and is now under Fulton. Aside from a few hiccups, they have steadily progressed in terms of fitness and game-play.

India enters the game as the clear favorite simply because they won the bronze medal in Tokyo and are ranked third in the world. Their ACT performances should give them a lot of confidence going into the field. They frequently outperformed Asia’s top in Chennai, and they also managed to get out of a few tight spots. None more so than overcoming Malaysia in the championship game after falling behind 1-3.

When naming the team, Fulton had said, “In ACT, we played really outstanding hockey and given that we went unbeaten in the tournament shows that we are heading in the right direction and we want to keep it going in next events.

Pool A includes Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore, and Uzbekistan in addition to India. Pakistan vs. Japan will be the focus, and Japan will be a good test. Again, getting to the semifinals should be simple. It then turns into a mental challenge, but there have been enough red flags in the past that this team can use to its advantage.

We’ll leave the last word to Shreejesh, who we spoke with at the Indian Express Idea Exchange. “When compared to the rest of Asia, we are receiving many facilities, making significant improvements, and our players are going abroad and receiving specialized instruction. So, there is an increase in expectations. Speaking about hockey, you are the favorite there and other teams want to catch you when you travel to the Asian Games. so, you cannot lower your level.

The main test for India will essentially be that.