Best chance for a medal in last 20 years: Viren Rasquinha
This is the most open men’s tournament in the last five editions, says former India captain
Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha feels the Indian team has a realistic chance to win an Olympics medal in Tokyo.
Assessing the Indian men’s team’s chances, Rasquinha underlined the Manpreet Singh-led side’s improvement.
“This is the best chance for a medal in the last 20 years. Our last chance was in Sydney 2000 when we just missed out on a place in the semifinals. This team has really played well. They have improved gradually and consistently and have beaten all the top teams over the last four-year Olympic cycle.
First goal
“The first goal should be to come out of the pool to the quarterfinals. We are not going to get an easy quarterfinal match,” Rasquinha, who will be part of Sony Sports live studio show, Sports Extraaa, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games from July 23, told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Rasquinha appreciated the Graham Reid-coached side. “There is a lot of freshness, enthusiasm and hard running. A lot on the lines of fitness. Players can adapt to different positions. Undoubtedly, it’s a very good team.”
