"Expecting A Lot From Captain Harmanpreet Singh: Hockey India Chief Diliip Tirkey Ahead Of Paris Olympics

Former captain and Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey has high hopes from skipper Harmanpreet Singh at the Paris Olympics, saying if the star drag-flicker is on song there is no reason why the country cannot change the colour of the medal at the quadrennial showpiece event. India had defeated Germany to clinch the bronze medal after 41 years at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Expectations are high from the Harmanpreet-led side to better its performance at the Paris Games, starting July 26.

"I have full faith in (goalkeeper PR) Sreejesh and in all the young players in the team. Five players are going to make their debut at the Olympics but they too have good experience of international hockey.

"We are expecting a lot from captain Harmanpreet, he is a world-class drag-flicker. If he gets going there in nothing to worry," Tirkey said on the sidelines of an event 'Glory of Five Rings', organised by Manav Rachna Educational Institutions, where the likes of former women's hockey skipper Rani Rampal and ex-world champion trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu, among others were also present.

"...everything falls upon the drag-flickers who will have to be at their best. If our drag-flickers are on song, nothing can stop us. Having said that, it is not that we haven't scored field goals," he added.

The Indian hockey team will have the services of renowned South African mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton during the Paris Olympics.

Upton, who played a role in India winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup, will be a part of the support staff of the country's men's hockey team and had recently organised a three-day gruelling camp at adventurer Mike Horn's base in Switzerland before heading to Paris via the Netherlands.

The former defender,