Chandigarh, Aug 2: Former captain of the Indian hockey team, who is also known as drag-flicker, and Haryana Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Sandeep Singh said that the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams have shown the whole world that our players accept any challenge thrown at them.

He said that seeing the performance of both the teams, now it seems that the Olympic medal is India’s to win.

When the women’s team defeated Australia 1-0 on Monday after the victory of the men’s team, the Sports Minister said that our women are no less than the men and they will make us proud in Tokyo.

Mr. Sandeep Singh was interacting with media persons after the women’s team beat Australia, 1-0.

He said that Sreejesh’s goalkeeping is India’s biggest strength in Team India. Along with this, India is also getting the benefit of experienced players, due to which India has reached the top four after beating Britain in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

He said that year after year there has been a lot of improvement in the performance of men’s and women’s hockey. The country will definitely get the benefit of players who understand the situation immediately like Captain Rani Rampal and Vandana Kataria.

After the defeat in the league match, our players came to know about their mistakes and rectified them in time. After which both the teams made a spectacular comeback and won consecutive matches. Now once again India is becoming a big power in hockey and the Golden Era is returning, he added.

The Minister said that victory or defeat is another matter. Qualifying for the Olympics is a big deal. It takes a lot of struggle and sacrifice for this.

Congratulating both the men’s and women’s teams, he said that now the medal is two steps away from us. With great restraint and caution, both teams will have to achieve the target. The country is waiting with folded hands. (UNI)