I challenge myself to reduce mistakes: Hockey defender Jarmanpreet

Bengaluru, May 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indian hockey team defender Jarmanpreet Singh on Friday said that he keeps challenging himself to reduce the margin of error, and that mental fitness is as important as physical fitness in the current scenario.

"I put on a challenge to myself that I should keep reducing my margin of error. My focus remains only on giving my best, with full energy, and trying to improve each and every day at the training," said the 24-year-old player.

Jarmanpreet, who is preparing with the squad for the Olympics at the Sports Authority of India centre here, credited the "extensive support from the seniors in the team" for his improvement.

"I feel mental fitness is as important as physical fitness to deal with the current situations. A player needs to be mentally strong, and for that, we have been helping each other. We communicate with each other; we try to create a positive environment around so that everyone stays in a happy zone," he said.

"I feel, because of this, there's a very good team bonding, which has been helping us with our preparations for the Olympics."

Jarmanpreet, who made his debut with the national team in 2018, feels he is fortunate to have the support of the senior players since the beginning of his career.

"I am very fortunate and thankful to all senior players as well as coaches because they knew my past [the two-year doping ban in 2015], they knew I was returning after a long time. They have always supported me since the beginning," he said.

"They have guided me at each step, and have been motivating me a lot. Moreover, it also helps when you have a senior player as a roommate. Kothajit [Singh] is my roommate here, and we share a good bond on and off the field. We both talk about hockey off the field, and it has been helping me improve as a player."

Source: IANS