Hockey: How Manpreet Singh bounced back from World Cup 2023 low to finish year on high as a more complete player
For some of India’s top stars, 2023 was the year when they had to pause, reflect and reboot. In some cases, to recover from injuries; in a few others, to rediscover lost form. All in the hope that when the big day comes, they’ll be ready and recharged for the challengeIn Odisha at the World Cup in January, after India lost the shootout against New Zealand to fall short of the quarterfinals, Manpreet Singh was on his knees, staring down at the turf in disbelief. It wasn’t supposed to end this way, for the team that won bronze at Tokyo Olympics. It was, to put it mildly, a disaster to go out that early.
In Hangzhou at the Asian Games in October, when the final was deadlocked 0-0 against Japan with five minutes left to go in the first half, India were getting a bit desperate for the openin...