Key Points

India had won the bronze medal in the previous edition held in Jakarta, where a young team with 15 debutants showed heart in their campaign by finishing on the podium.

This time, however, with the World Cup qualification at stake, India has brought their best squad to the campaign and will be looking to showcase their A game in Rajgir.

Upon arriving this afternoon, fresh from high-intensity friendly matches against Australia in Perth, Chief Coach Craig Fulton expressed his delight over playing in Bihar for the first time.

"We are very happy to arrive in Bihar for this prestigious tournament. It is great that international hockey is being hosted here, and we want to inspire the people of this region with our game and create more fans for the sport," Fulton said as quoted from Hockey India.

Speaking about the importance of this tournament, Fulton said, "The team's preparations has been solid for this tournament. Our approach will be similar to that of the Paris Olympics, where we began with good wins in the pool stage. We want to start well here, take it game-by-game, build on our momentum, and we are cognisant that it's been eight years since India last won the title (in 2017, Dhaka). While we are confident of winning, we don't want to take any team lightly."

Captain Harmanpreet reflected similar emotions and said, "We have never played in Bihar, and it's exciting to see that Rajgir is already hosting its second international hockey tournament within a span of one year. This shows the government's intent to support the game, and we are looking forward to the love and support of hockey fans here throughout the tournament."

India is grouped in Pool A along with Japan, China and Kazakhstan, while Pool B features Malaysia, Korea, Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei.

- ANI