Aim to win gold at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Manpreet Singh
Bengaluru: : With the Senior Men's Team for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup scheduled to be announced next week, Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh says this is a great tournament to see where the team stands ahead of the Men's Hockey World League Semi Final in London in June. In this year's edition, England, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan and Korea will vie for top honours along with India. "Teams like England and Australia will play with a young squad. We are awaiting the final team selection but I feel this is a great tournament for the youngsters. The atmosphere is good with lots of spectators and top teams play here so there is tough competition. Since this is the first tournament we play this year, we can see where we stand and what are the changes that need to be made moving forward," stated Manpreet Singh, who was recently appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police by Punjab Government.
In the previous edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India won the silver medal after losing to Australia in the final. But this time, the team is determined to return with a gold. "Last time we lost in the final but this time definitely the aim is to win the title. We have had really good sessions in the national camp and with youngsters in the mix there are options to try out different combinations," he feels.
"Our results will be based on how well we execute the plans we work on here in the camp," he added.