Bengaluru, Oct 4 Experienced defender Rupinder Pal Singh feels the Covid-19 induced lockdown period helped the Indian men's hockey team develop their technical knowledge about the game and also up their skill.
"I always like to see positive side to any scenario and I truly feel the series of lockdowns helped us develop our technical knowledge base. We would watch a lot of videos, analyse matches, discuss video referrals etc while we remained indoors with no hockey allowed," Rupinder said.
"We have also studied our opponents during this period and all these aspects will be beneficial for us in our preparations for the Olympic Games," he added.
He further stated that going back to basics when activities resumed in the national coaching camp has helped perfect their skills.
"We have paid a lot of attention to basics when we resumed activities in SAI, Bengaluru. I believe this has helped the entire group perfect our skills. We will be increasing intensity this month onwards and we have built a solid base to take greater work load in the coming months," said Rupinder.
One of the other factors that Rupinder believes has helped the men's team in particular is having events in India.
"I feel Hockey India hosting back-to-back events in India has also been a contributing factor to our performance. Playing in front of home crowd is not just an incredible feeling but there's also a lot of pressure to perform," explained the drag flicker who has been part of some of India's significant victories such as the 2014 Asian Games, Asian Champions Trophy in 2011 and 2016.
"This exposure obviously helps us face greater challenges when we play abroad. Playing in India also increases our fan-base, gets newer spectators to watch the sport and people end up following us when we travel abroad too," he added.
( With inputs from IANS )
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