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A comparatively new addition to the Indian staff, younger forward Abhishek is all set to make an impression at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, ranging from January 13.
The 23-year-old, who made his debut in the earlier season of the FIH Hockey Pro League, mentioned, “Playing for India at a home World Cup is a dream come true for me.”
“There is a lot of excitement, but at the same time, I am a bit nervous too. This will not only be my first World Cup, but also my first experience playing in front of a huge crowd. People of Odisha are very passionate about hockey, and it will be a great experience for me to play in front of them,” he added.
Abhishek’s hockey journey started in Sonepat, Haryana at the age of 11 when he noticed his mates enjoying the sport in his faculty. The son of an Army man honed his expertise beneath his faculty instructor and coach Shamsher Singh.
“After starting from my school, I got selected in the National Hockey Academy, Delhi, and after playing for Haryana in the national championships between 2013-2015, I earned my call-up for the Junior Camp,” he acknowledged.
Abhishek was a part of the Indian staff that received the 2016 U-18 Asian Cup in Bangladesh. He scored the successful aim in the staff’s 5-4 win towards the hosts in the Final. However, the forward could not progress additional and was dropped from the junior nationwide camp. “I missed out on making the 2016 Junior World Cup squad as I was relatively young, and was dropped from the junior national camp. It was a big disappointment for me,” he mirrored.
Almost three years later, Abhishek’s onerous work paid off as he bought his call-up for the Senior National Camp after serving to Punjab National Bank end third at the 1st Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship 2021. With six targets beneath his belt, he was the second-highest goalscorer in the event.
“Those three years were challenging for me, but my coach and the department supported me throughout. They helped me bounce back from that tough phase. And after having a good domestic season in 2021, I was confident of getting selected for the core problems,” Abhishek mentioned.
The participant from Haryana was an integral a part of the Indian Team that completed third in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 and the Silver Medal feat at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
With simply 4 days to go for the World Cup, Abhishek mentioned, “After the Commonwealth Games, my family is now hopeful of a medal at the World Cup. The whole country is hoping for that. I believe we are fully prepared for the challenge and we will give our best to make our country proud.”
–IANS
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(Only the headline and movie of this report could have been reworked by the Business Standard employees; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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