Young forward Mohammad Raheel, who was the star of Indian men’s hockey, won the title at the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s in Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend, said he likes the format of the shortest version of the game.
Raheel, 25, made a remarkable performance in Lausanne as he emerged as the tournament’s top scorer with 10 goals and was voted the player of the tournament.
“First of all, it is a great feeling to play for the Indian team. I am really happy that I contributed to the team. It was an amazing experience and I really loved playing this format of the game,” Raheel, who was the linchpin of India’s attack in the tournament, was quoted as saying in a release by Hockey India.
The Indian team, led by Gurinder Singh, finished the round-robin stage on top with three wins and one draw from four matches and remained unbeaten in the tournament.
They started their campaign with a 4–3 win and played out a 2–2 draw against Pakistan on the first day. Then on Sunday, they registered 7-3 and 6-2 wins respectively before making a stunning comeback against Malaysia and Poland in the final.
Raheel, who reached the scoresheet in all five matches, netted twice in India’s thrilling 6-4 win against Poland in the final.
Reflecting on the campaign, the young forward said, “It was a new experience, the matches were really fast paced, but we improved match-by-match and scored a lot of goals. We started using perimeter boards more, and with that our finishing improved. We played really well as a team. It is a great feeling to win the first edition of Hockey-5.
Apart from emphasizing the fun factor involved in this shorter 5-a-side format, Raheel also credits FIH for making the event a memorable experience for all participating teams.
“Credit to FIH for introducing Hockey 5. It was a beautiful set-up in Lausanne, we really enjoyed it. We were playing in front of a packed field after such a long time, so it made the experience even more memorable,” he concluded.
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