New Delhi, 30 Nov

India men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh has two Olympic bronze medals in his cabinet, but rues missing out on World Cup glory, an anomaly that he wants to set right in the next edition of the mega event in 2026.

India have till date won three World Cup medals -- bronze in 1971 (Barcelona), silver in 1973 (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and gold in 1975 (Kuala Lumpur) under Ajitpal Singh's leadership.

Harmanpreet, who won back-to-back Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Paris, the second one under his leadership, however, had won the Junior World Cup in Lucknow in 2016. "The goal will always be to bag Olympic gold and a World Cup medal. The way we performed in Paris shows that we can compete with top teams and win," Harmanpreet told PTI.

"Our immediate target is next FIH Pro League matches and then win the Asia Cup and qualify directly for the World Cup. A World Cup medal hasn't come for a long time and I want to fulfil that in my career," said Harmanpreet, one the best defenders and drag-flickers of the world right now. "...Hope we can relive those golden days during our career. We will not surrender till we achieve that," he added.

The 2026 men's FIH Hockey World Cup will be the 16th edition of the quadrennial tournament scheduled to be held from August 15 to 30 in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands

From a personal point of view, Harmanpreet wants to better his drag-flick skills and remain fit to prolong his career.

"Drag-flick is getting tough day-by-day and the goal is to work on how to improve myself, bring in more variations and remain fit."

Harmanpreet credits current Indian women's hockey team coach Harendra Singh for shaping his career and believes the women's side drag-flicker and star forward Deepika is in good hands. "Deepika is doing great. She produced a great performance in the Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar. She is a good drag-flicker and a forward who can score. She is in safe hands under Harry (Harendra) sir," he said. "I will never forget those days and the help Harry sir provided me."

By his own admission, hockey was a coincidence in his life as Harmanpreet never aspired to play the sport. "Hockey has chosen me as in my family there was no player, neither I had interest in hockey. I had interest in many sports like volleyball, football, athletics, basketball," he said. "A coach in my school said try hockey and from the day I started hockey, I became a fan of it. I started the sport at 7-8 years."

Harmanpreet was the toast of the revamped Hockey India League auction recently, bagging Rs 78 lakh bid from Soorma Hockey Club of Punjab.

The HIL will be revived this season after seven years. The franchise-based league will be held in both men's and women's categoory this time.

The men's league will begin on December 28 in Rourkela, with matches continuing through two stages until the final showdown on February 1, 2025.

The maiden women's league will start from January 2, 2025 in Ranchi, with their grand finale slated for January 26.

Harmanpreet believes the HIL will be a good learning experience for youngsters and will be a feeder line to the national team.

"The biggest thing is that HIL is starting again. Happy that the highest bid was for me. These things give you motivation. Financially also you need to be strong. These things help in personal life," he said.

"The HIL is a good opportunity for youngsters to learn. In my career HIL helped me a lot and definitely it is a chance to play against top players of the world. "They (youngsters) will get to know what is their thinking, their understanding. HIL is going to benefit Indian hockey in future. We can get a lot of players from here who can represent India in future. This is the best opportunity before them," he noted.

But Harmanpreet said the hefty price tag will not add any pressure on him during the HIL. "There is no pressure because till the last day of my career every match will be tough, I will take it as a responsibility. "The scenario will be the same in HIL as well, I will try to live up to the responsibility given to me," he said.