CHENNAI: With the new year approaching, the Indian men’s hockey team is bracing for a packed 2026 calendar, with competitive action beginning as early as the second week of February in the FIH Pro League.
India will take on runners-up Belgium among other top sides, and the Pro League will also serve as one of the qualification pathways for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Later in the year, the team will head to the Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan in September as defending champions. A title win there would also secure direct Olympic qualification.
“It will be a very packed 2026 for us, and we have to be very smart. We need to concentrate on training and food habits because there will be back-to-back matches,” Indian captain and JSW Soorma skipper Harmanpreet Singh told DT Next.
With tournaments lined up in quick succession, player management will be crucial. Emphasising the importance of recovery and conditioning, Harmanpreet said: “If the team has a four-week camp, the first three weeks we can train hard, and in the last week we can unload a little so that before a match or tournament you don’t feel the soreness.
We can benefit a lot from nutritionists and physios to protect ourselves.”
Chennai will host another major hockey event within weeks of the Junior Hockey World Cup, which concluded in December, with the Hockey India League beginning on January 3.
The Indian junior team bagged bronze at the World Cup, and Harmanpreet praised their resilience in the knockout stages.
“We have some good players, Arshdeep, Rohit, Princedeep. Even if any of them joins the senior camp, it will be important to see how they blend with the team,” he said.
At the Hockey India League, Soorma Hockey Club will look to build on last season’s third-place finish and push for the top of the podium.
“Last year it was a new experience for most of us. Everyone was new, and every good thing takes time. I’m happy we finished third, and this season it is almost the same team. We expect to do better this year,” Harmanpreet added.