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After a pandemic-induced postponement and months of nerve-wracking uncertainty, the action is about to begin at the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics. For Indian sports fans, one of the highlights of the Games over the years has been the field hockey event.
Over the last four decades, many talented Indian teams have fallen short of reaching the knock-out stage. However, Roelant Oltmans' boys raised the hopes of an entire nation by making it to the quarterfinals at Rio 2016.
Five years later, a lot more is expected of the Indians in what is now called one of the most unpredictable competitions of all time, thanks to the cancelation of several matches of the FIH Hockey Pro League. The tournament was to have been a high-level preparatory ahead of the Games.
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The Indians begin their campaign against 1976 gold medalists New Zealand. The Kiwis have been a force to reckon with over the years, despite never making it to the podium since the Montreal win.
Checkout: Tokyo Olympic Hockey Schedule
The Black Sticks Men seem to have an innate ability to upset higher-ranked sides in big matches. They did this to Manpreet Singh and co. at Gold Coast just over three years ago.
After being beaten by the Indians in a four-nations tournament in early 2018, the New Zealanders sprang to life in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games and dashed Indian hopes. The Indians eventually returned home empty-handed.
At the Tokyo Test Event in 2019, the Indians thrashed New Zealand by a 5-0 margin in the final, after having lost to the Black Sticks Men earlier in the tournament.
Nothing less than full points will suffice for the Indians if they are to go into Sunday's game against Australia in a positive frame of mind.
The Indian defense will need to keep an eye out for three experienced strikers - Hugo Inglis, Nick Wilson and Stephen Jenness - while hoping that their own relatively young forwards can penetrate the back lines manned by veterans Blair Tarrant and Shea McAleese, now a four-time Olympian.
While Harmanpreet and Rupinder Pal Singh would love to flick home any PC's that come their way, Sreejesh would have been amply briefed about the technical strengths of the Black Sticks PC battery that includes Kane Russell and Nic Woods.
So fasten your seat belts as the game begins at 0630 IST on Saturday, July 24. The live action will be streamed on Sony Liv, across the Sony Sports Network and on Doordarshan in India.
Head to Head:
Overall: 101 (India: 55, NZ 29, Drawn: 17)
Olympics: 7 (India 4, NZ 3)
Rankings: (India 4, NZ 8)
Prediction: Hockey fans can hope to witness a fast and exciting contest. Both teams would love to play an attacking game after what is expected to be a cagey first quarter.
Score Prediction: India 2 - New Zealand 0
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
