Tokyo Olympics: Meet the Indian men’s hockey squad looking to end the 41-year-old medal drought

The Manpreet Singh-led Indian men’s hockey team will start their much-awaited Olympic Games campaign as they take on New Zealand in their first Pool A match on Saturday.

There is much hope riding on this team, which is seen as capable of finally ending India’s 41-year-old wait for a medal in a sport they once dominated. India have failed to reach the semi-finals since the gold medal at the 1980 Rome Olympics, and hit the lowest of lows in 2012 when the team finished last (12th) at the London Games.

This time around, they would look to reach the semis at least but grouped along with the defending Olympic Champions Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Japan, World No 4 India’s task will be cut out to ensure a spot in the quarter-final.

In the last few years, the Indian team has achieved important milestones, including winning the Asia Cup in 2017, claiming the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 as well as winning the FIH Series Final in 2019 over the past four years. India also reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar and performed exceedingly well in the FIH Hockey Pro League under Manpreet before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the schedule.

Here’s a…

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