India men's hockey team in action© X (Twitter)
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh credited India's recent success to strong team camaraderie, emphasising that their deep bond and willingness to "die for one another" helped them overcome China to win the Asian Champions Trophy for a record-extending fifth time. India rode on Jugraj Singh's late strike to defeat China 1-0 in a tense final in Hulunbuir on Tuesday. Pakistan won the bronze medal with a 5-2 win over South Korea. “The final was really intense; the Chinese were breathing down our necks throughout the game and made it really difficult for us to create a clear goal scoring chance,” Harmanpreet said in a Hockey India release.
"But the team over the last year has built immense trust in each other. We are willing to die for one another. It was this sense of unity reassuring us that we will find a way to win the game together.” Harmanpreet said India's successful run in last one year has instilled a strong belief among players.
“The gold medal in last year's Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games and the bronze from the Paris 2024 Olympics have instilled a deep camaraderie within the team." Harmanpreet, who has been shortlisted for FIH's Player-of-the-Year Award after scoring 10 goals at Paris, once again led from the front as the team remained unbeaten in the competition.
Out of India's 26 goals in the competition, Harmanpreet scored seven and all were from penalty corners.
Harmanpreet said it is now crucial for India to keep building on the success.
"We are proud to have retained our title but the work doesn't stop now,” he said.
“We have areas we need to improve; we need to build depth in our squad as well. The team will head back to camp after a short break and start preparing for the tournaments ahead to make our supporters proud again,” he added.
India vice-captain Vivek Sagar Prasad said the Olympics bronze medal made India the “team to beat” in the tournament.
“All the teams in the group stage were tough to play against. The bronze medal from the Olympics painted a target on our backs; we were the team to beat,” he said.
“But every single person on the team stepped up to make it seem like we were cruising past our opponents. The youngsters slotted in seamlessly, Krishan and Suraj alternated to bail us out of tricky situations." “The defenders remained reliable, and the midfielders and forwards ran riot on the pitch. All in all, it was very enjoyable,” he added.
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