‘Champions Trophy will be our mental test’

The Indian hockey team is leaving for England today to compete in the Champions Trophy. The team’s month-long tour will culminate in Valencia with the Six Nations Tournament. “We are getting back-to-back matches in London and Spain and that’s how the schedule will be like in Rio Olympics also. 

This will be a mental test for us as we play world’s top four teams in London and we play the five teams we will face in Rio at the Six Nations Tournament. It will come down to how we succeed in executing the plans we have been working on at the training camp,” Sreejesh said. 

Playing high intensity matches almost two months prior to the Rio Olympics will not only give the team sufficient time to improve on certain aspects but will also ensure the team is mentally fresh for Rio, feels Sreejesh. “Almost a month before the London Olympics, we were in Europe playing matches and directly went for the Olympics. 

This time, some of the senior players spoke to coach Roelant (Oltmans) after the New Zealand Tour and told him that we wanted to do things differently. India will open their Champions Trophy campaign with a match against Germany on June 10.