We want to finish on the podium at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, says PR Sreejesh

We want to finish on the podium at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, says PR Sreejesh

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PR Sreejesh has backed his side to finish on the podium in this year’s 2018 Hockey Men's World Cup in Bhubaneswar which starts on November 18 in Odisha. Sreejesh also added that the Indians are more elated after they moved to fifth in the FIH rankings update after their performance in Netherlands.

The Indian hockey team was at their very best despite a heartbreaking loss in the final of the recently-held FIH Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 in Breda, the Netherlands, as they ended as runner-ups for the second consecutive time. The last edition of the tournament had seen the Indians fall to a narrow 1-3 defeat in the penalty shootout in the finals.

However, Indian captain and custodian in goal, PR Sreejesh was rather optimistic about India’s chances in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games, Palembang and the 2018 Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup. Sreejesh revealed that his side was determined to pull off a podium finish on home soil in the World Cup that is scheduled to start on November 18.

"We are really happy and elated to see ourselves jump one step ahead in the World Rankings. The higher we go there is a lot more responsibility on our shoulders to do well and come up with consistent performance. The elevation in World Ranking gives us a big boost to do well in the upcoming 18th Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta and the Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 where we want to finish on the podium in front of our home crowd," expressed Sreejesh on the sidelines of the ongoing National Camp at Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru. 

The Indian Men's Hockey Team also managed to move to fifth place in the Men's FIH Hero World Ranking from sixth, replacing the German team. Australia (1906 points) sit 23 points ahead of second-ranked South Americans Argentina (1883), with Belgium (1709) and the Netherlands (1654) occupying the third and fourth positions respectively.

"When you are going higher up the World Ranking, everyone (other teams) will take a close look at us and we will be in their radar constantly. We need to work really hard to maintain and improve our World Ranking. I believe we have the potential to go higher up to World No.3 but for that we need to do significantly well at the upcoming events and World Ranking has certainly added positive energy to our preparations," Sreejesh added.

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