Chinglensana Singh, who has recently been appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian senior men's hockey team, has admitted that he is excited and honoured to take up the new responsibility as his side head into the Three Nations Invitational Tournament, beginning June 1.
"This is an important tour for us in our preparations for the World League Final in December and I am very excited to be entrusted with this new responsibility," expressed Chinglensana on the sidelines of the ongoing national camp in SAI, Bengaluru.
As a midfielder, Chinglensana is fast with the ability to set off aggressively inside the opponent's half creating a chance for the Indians to breakout. His skill to dribble with pace ends with him making a perfect pass to an unmarked teammate who would then take a shot on goal. He is often entrusted with the role of a stopper too when Harmanpreet Singh or Rupinder Pal Singh attempts a dragflick to convert penalty corner.
"It's these abilities on the field to adapt to any situation and his great spirit and energy were the qualities that made our decision easy to name him as Vice Captain of the team," explained Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans.
With the pressure on forwards to improve their filed goal conversion rate from 20 per cent at the recently concluded 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Chinglensana's role in the centre half along with Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, SK Uthappa, Satbir Singh and Harjeet Singh becomes all the more crucial for the team. But it helps that Chinglensana exhibits an attitude that revolves around a team-first approach.
"Whether you are the Vice Captain, Captain or a senior player in the team, it is important for us to guide youngsters in matches. Rectifying the mistakes we made in Malaysia was the main goal of this camp. I am sure if we don't repeat these mistakes we will bring good results in both Germany and London," explained the Imphal-born Chinglensana.
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While India plays two matches each against Germany and Belgium in Dusseldorf in the upcoming tournament, they are grouped with Canada, Scotland, Netherlands and Pakistan in the Men's Hockey World League semi-final starting June 15.
"It is a tough group with strong and unpredictable teams. It will be important for us to take one match at a time and make sure we do well in the pool stage and get off to a good start against Canada in our first match. Our Coach has a simple rule which is to score three goals against any opponent no matter how strong they are. We will be vying to follow this rule in Germany and London," stated the vice-captain.
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