At just 20 years of age, India men hockey midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad has already tasted much success both at the individual and team level. He was part of Indian team that won the gold medal at the FIH Men’s Hockey Series Finals in 2019 and then sealed the Tokyo Olympic berth as well.
For his on-field brilliance, Prasad was given the FIH Rising Star of the Year award last year but the youngster says he will be happy once he becomes a consistent performer.
“It has definitely been a dream start for me and winning the FIH Rising Star of the Year award 2019 was also a huge boost for me,” Prasad said. “However, I will only be satisfied with my performance if I can be consistent for the Indian team over a long period of time. That is the biggest priority for me. I am very happy about contributing to the team’s victories in big tournaments. But I want to contribute to the team’s success in much bigger competitions as well.”
Prasad has identified aspects of his game that need improvement and for that he has been closely speaking to captain Manpreet Singh .
“This is just the beginning of my career and I have to improve on many aspects of my game. I am very grateful to have brilliant seniors who are always there to guide me. I am very lucky to be playing alongside my idol Manpreet Singh. I have been talking to him and he always gives me the confidence to perform on the big stage. It’s great to have a federation like Hockey India as well, who is always there to support us in every way possible. We wouldn’t be the players we are without the undying support of Hockey India,” he said.
Like every hockey player, Prasad’s dream is to be part of an Olympic medal winning team and he belives that should India play to their full potential, it will become a reality at the Tokyo Games.
“Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport and contributing to India winning an Olympic Medal is my biggest dream. We certainly have a great team who is confident of making history in Tokyo and I am really looking forward to competing against the best teams at the quadrennial event. If we play to our full potential, we will certainly come back with a Medal from Tokyo next year,” he said.