~The Punjab-born goalkeeper has 103 worldwide caps to his identify~
New Delhi, 14th September 2023: With an opportunity to earn a direct Paris Olympics 2024 qualification, the Indian Males’s Hockey Group will open their nineteenth Asian Video games Hangzhou marketing campaign in opposition to Uzbekistan on 24 September 2023. Forward of the all-important event, Indian Males’s Hockey Group goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak on Thursday spoke about his choice within the staff and his household’s response when he broke the information to them.
Talking about representing the nation on the nineteenth Asian Video games Hangzhou 2022, Pathak mentioned, “It’s positively a proud second for me and my household. If I look again on my journey, I by no means imagined that I’d get the chance to earn greater than 100 worldwide caps for India and play my second Asian Video games. It’s one thing I’ll cherish for a lifetime. We’ll take it match by match and won’t take any staff as a right. We can not let our guard down at any given time.”
“The coaching has been going effectively,” he mentioned, earlier than including, “The entire gamers are working onerous to arrange for the large event. On the apply pitch, we work out each day. Other than that, we’ve had 4-5 goalkeeping classes with Dennis, and there shall be a number of extra within the coming days. We’ve gone over the fundamentals once more, specializing in the errors we made in earlier tournaments and how you can enhance fast decision-making, amongst different issues. Earlier than coming to the camp, Dennis requested us what issues we have been having and the way we may work collectively to resolve them.”
Pathak, a member of the Indian Males’s Hockey Group that lately received the seventh version of the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, emphasised the event’s significance within the run-up to the Asian Video games and the way it helped them fine-tune their preparations.
“We have now a superb run of video games within the lead-up to the nineteenth Asian Video games Hangzhou 2022. We performed in opposition to some prime sides, so that can positively assist us in figuring out what are our robust and weak factors. The gamers will even get confidence from a superb outing that they’ve had within the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023. We don’t wish to repeat the errors going ahead,” he added.
The younger goalkeeper has performed an ideal second fiddle to PR Sreejesh and is able to tackle the lead position too when given the chance. On working with Sreejesh, Pathak says, “We have now a wonderful bonding between us. He is among the senior gamers within the staff and at any time when I’m doubtful, I simply go as much as him and search his recommendation on the matter. His expertise of taking part in over the past 20 years certainly helped me loads.”
The Punjab-born participant is among the most proficient goalkeepers to emerge from India’s Males’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 facet. He went on to make his debut for the Senior Nationwide staff on the 4 Nations Invitational Event 2018 in New Zealand. He was part of the 18th Asian Video games Jakarta-Palembang Bronze medal-winning staff and lifted the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Muscat 2018 as joint winners with Pakistan.