‘Priority is to top the pool and make it to quarterfinals’

Bhubaneswar: India’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh said his team is focused on toping its pool and make the quarterfinals of the men’s World Cup starting here on November 28.
With less than two weeks to go for the prestigious World Cup which will witness 16 top teams battle for supremacy at the iconic Kalinga Stadium, India are busy making final preparations to their campaign.
“There is no doubt we want to win every match in the Pool Stage, earn the three points from each match, and top the Pool to make the Quarter Final. That is our first hurdle,” said Manpreet. “It’s the World Cup and every team will come with an intention of winning and we do not want to take any team lightly, be it South Africa, Canada or World No.3 Belgium.”
Grouped in Pool C, India will face South Africa on November 28, before taking on Belgium on December 2 followed by their last group match against Canada on December 8.
While the Indian team has not faced South Africa in a major tournament in over two years, Manpreet said that a win in their first match will set them on the right course.
“Though we haven’t played them in any major tournament, we played a practice match against South Africa during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. That match gave us an idea of how they play,” he said. (PTI)