Rio Olympic 2016: Men's Hockey, India to face Ireland in their opening match on Saturday

In men’s hockey, India to face Ireland in their opening clash Rio Olympics games on Saturday. The Indian team is in good form with silver medals at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malasia and Hockey Champions Trophy in London.

 Indian are Eight-time Olympic Gold medal winners but they will be cautious against Ireland in their opening game as they have not won any opening match in Olympics since Sydney games in 2000.

Indian team is coached by Dutch tactician Roeland Oltmans, who helped Netherlands win the gold at Atlanta in 1996, India promises good performance in the tournament and is a contender for medal. A lot will depend on the performances of midfielder Sardar Singh and in keeper P.R Sreejesh and defenders V.R Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh. India have players who are both experienced and skilful.