The Indian men's hockey group will take on a lower-positioned Russia in the men's Olympic qualifiers here on Friday. The Indian group is only two matches from booking their tickets for the Tokyo Olympics, planned to be held next year.

The Manpreet Singh-drove Indian men's group is viewed as the clear favourite against the world no.22 Russia. Ranked fifth in the world, the Indian men are relied upon to have a simple excursion against the Russians.

Be that as it may, mentor Graham Reid would realize that even one bad game could demolish India's dream about making it to the Olympics thus, he perhaps won't trifle with their lower-positioned adversaries. The frontline will be kept an eye on by Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, and Simranjeet Singh.

Dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra will as common structure the backline while the midfield will see captain Manpreet along with Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilkanata Sharma, and Hardik Singh.

Recently, the Indian men's defence has improved with any semblance of Surender Kumar and junior World Cup-winning team member Harmanpreet Singh. Pro goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will indeed protect the nets. Overall, an exciting contest is on cards at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.