Past struggles give me energy to strive for bigger achievements: Sumit

Sumit already has Olympic and Asian Games hockey medals in his cabinet but more torrid memories are fuelling his dreams of adding another piece of metal into his glittering collectionThe 27yearold is hoping to be a part of Indias Paris Olympicsbound squad but he is unfazed by the intense competition for a spot in the final 16There were bigger struggles in my life As someone who went through tougher challenges in life I keep remembering myself about my past I have kept those memories with me and I get strong vibes from my tough past to move forward It gives me an energy to strive for bigger achievements Sumit told PTI on the sidelines of the Indian teams preparatory camp at the SAI centre hereThe Haryana player termed him getting dropped by then coach Graham Reid in 2021 as the biggest challenge he faced on the field After the Asian Champions Trophy that year Sumit fell out of favour and was not picked for the subsequent Commonwealth Games and the World Cup at homeThe nearly twoyear omission was tough for him but Sumit said he never let the hope fade I dont often allow disappointments to creep into my mind But its very tough for a player to get dropped from the team In fact I have to go through those ups and downs in the last couple of years But I love that challenge of making a comeback to the teamAlso ReadT20 World Cup 2024 Virat opens Rohit bats at number three Ajay JadejaHowever Sumit admitted that going down the pecking order did have some adverse impact on his mindThe biggest challenge when hes out of the team is that you tend to feel that the coach does not trust you and your game too starts getting affected by such thoughtsI too felt the same way then but the only thing I could do was to work hard on my game and push my case further he added He indeed upgraded his game and now figures prominently in new coach Craig Fultons plansFulton has created a cordial atmosphere within the team He values every player in the team not just the seniors He has established a nice connection with each player and he knows how to take the team along with him Sumit gushed Sumit said his focus is on the upcoming FIH ProLeague matches at Antwerp where India will begin their campaign from May 22I am focusing on the ProLeague matches Those matches will be very tough against some top teams and I am preparing accordingly The midfielder said the opportunity to face topflight opponents like Germany Argentina and Belgium ahead of the Olympics will stand the team in good steadSometimes we dont get enough matches to prepare ahead of a big event But here we have some good matches for preparation ahead of the OlympicsWe will meet those teams which are in the ProLeague in Paris too So its an ideal preparation for the team India had recently suffered a 05 series defeat against Australia but Sumit found positives in that setback We have learned so many things from the tour to Australia despite losing 05 We now have better awareness about the changes that we need to make in our defence and attack We are focusing on them in this camp he noted Sumit underscored the need to put better work on the teams defenceWe lost the first match very badly but from there we showed some improvements and other matches had close margins like 21 32 etc It told us how crucial it is to keep defence tight for the whole duration of the match We are working on it he said With his preparations on track Sumit hoped to make the cut for the OlympicsI am mentally ready for the Olympics Hopefully I can make the cut and I feel this time too we can end up on the podium The team has not been announced yet for the Olympics but I feel if we do well in the ProLeague it will boost our confidence in ParisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever