Goal is to win gold in Birmingham CWG, says hockey team VC Harmanpreet

Australia has won all the six gold medals on offer in the men's competition since the game's introduction at the multi-sport event in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Bengaluru:A confident Indian men's hockey team is looking to put brakes on Australia's golden run at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh said on Friday. Australia has won all the six gold medals on offer in the men's competition since the game's introduction at the multi-sport event in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

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But Harmanpreet exuded confidence that his team will be able to buck the trend in Birmingham. "Our team has been performing well. We played well in FIH Hockey Pro League as well and therefore the confidence is high within the group. We will look to keep winning matches. We will definitely try our level best to win gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022," he said.

"Our preparations for the Commonwealth Games are going on very well. We are working on specific aspects of our game during our training sessions and we are focusing on the learnings from the FIH Hockey Pro League." The ace drag-flicker said finishing and defence remains a concern for India but they are constantly working to plug holes in these two areas.

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"We are specifically working on our finishing and defending skills at the moment. Overall, we are hitting the right notes in the practice sessions. We'll just keep working hard on our game and try to keep getting better day by day as a team," Harmanpreet said. "We have been playing practice matches during our training sessions. Our main team has been playing against the rest of the players in the national camp.

"The practice matches have helped us improve our on-field coordination and also provided us with an opportunity to test our strategies," he added.

PTI