Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the FIH Olympic Qualifiers clash against India, Russian men’s team arrived in Bhubaneshwar here on Sunday.
The team’s skipper Denis Shchipachev expressed team’s excitement on returning to India after their previous appearance during the FIH Series Finals in June this year.
“It is exciting to return to India. We had a great experience last time playing here in front of very passionate hockey fans. Although the weather in June was very hot for us, we are hopeful this time of the year is cooler here and we can get acclimatised early,” Shchipachev said.
When the Indian side had last met Russia during the FIH Series Finals, India had beaten them 10-0. However, the Russians are confident of a better show this time.
“India is a very good team, much higher ranked than us. We are still a developing country in hockey but having said that, we are confident of putting up a good show against them. We have prepared well and we will put up a good fight for Olympic Qualification,” Shchipachev added.
Russia will take on India on November 1 and 2 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar.