FIH Olympic Qualifiers | Had great experience playing in front of very passionate hockey fans, says Denis Shchipachev
Russian men’s hockey team skipper Denis Shchipachev has expressed that he had a great experience playing in front of the passionate hockey fans in Bhubaneswar when he last played in the FIH Series Finals. India will meet Russia in the two FIH Olympic Qualifiers matches next month at the same venue.
After the USA women’s hockey team, the Russia men have also arrived in the Temple City of Bhubaneswar for the two FIH Olympic Qualifier games at the Kalinga Stadium which are scheduled to be played on November 1 and 2. Russian skipper Denis Shchipachev is excited to come back to the same venue in India where they played in the FIH Series Finals in June this year.
"It is exciting to return to India. We had a great experience last time playing here in front of very passionate hockey fans. Although the weather in June was very hot for us, we are hopeful this time of the year is cooler here and we can get acclimatised early," Shchipachev was quoted by Hockey India.
In the last tournament in June, hosts India had thrashed the team from Russia by a huge margin of 10-0 goals. Meanwhile, the visitors, who are ranked 24 on the FIH rankings list, is eyeing for better performance in the Olympic qualification event.
"India is a very good team, much higher ranked than us. We are still a developing country in hockey but having said that, we are confident of putting up a good show against them. We have prepared well and we will put up a good fight for Olympic Qualification," the Russian captain concluded.
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