FIH Series Finals | India’s basics were very good against Japan, believes Harmanpreet Singh
Indian drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh is of the belief that the team had their basics right in the semi-final clash against Japan on Friday. Harmanpreet, who was playing his 100th international game on Friday, scored the first goal of the match as India defeated Japan by a big margin of 7-2.
After going down by a goal in the second minute of the game, India came back strong and managed to register a sensational 7-2 win against Asian Games gold medallist Japan. Harmanpreet was the first goal-scorer as he scored off the penalty-corner in the seventh minute. According to the drag-flicker, the Indians put up a good show and they had their basics right in the game against Japan.
“Our basics were very god today. We kept possession and rotated the ball really well. We got opportunities from the baseline and attacked. There were shots on target as well. So we did well today,” Harmanpreet said during the press conference.
“Our mindset was to give full effort. There was a focus and everyone was cheering each other in the match. The team put a good effort. Although we conceded goal first, we still did well. We scored field goals and goals from the Penalty corners as well.”
With this win and qualifying for the final, India have also made it to the next round for the Tokyo Olympics qualifications. The final round – FIH Olympic Qualifiers - will be held later this year during October-November. Harmanpreet stated that the mindset of the side was to go step by step in the tournament and they don’t think about losing.
“Any of the tournaments that we go, we have a mindset of going step by step. Our focus was to win this game and then think about the next game. We don’t think about losing. Our mindset was only to win. Teams come here to put in an effort and the team did exactly that today,” the defender explained.
India will play the final against South Africa who defeated the USA by 2-1 goals in an exciting game earlier on Friday. Harmanpreet said that the team will look forward to work on the mistakes committed against Japan before stepping on to the pitch for the final.
“Whether we win or lose, we try to find out what mistakes we have committed. We know South Africa and they know us as well. We will work on the mistakes that we committed today,” the Punjab-born player said.
Harmanpreet achieved his personal milestone of playing 100 international games in his career. He had made his senior India debut at the Kalinga Stadium against Japan back in 2015. He expressed his pleasure of representing the nation in 100 international games and said that the win was a goft for him from the teammates.
“First, I had never thought of this. This was a great opportunity for me. I had played my first match against Japan in the senior team and now it is the 100th game. The team played well and gave me a very good gift today,” Harmanpreet signed off.
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