National men's hockey team chief coach Graham Reid feels India need to accelerate their learning from the Europe tour and tighten their defence in the build up to this year's Tokyo Olympics. Reid is contended with his side's performance in the just-concluded Europe tour, where India remained unbeaten. The two-week tour was India's first assignment since 2020, a year marred by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I'm pretty happy with the performance; I'm very happy with the way the tour was -- from point of view of getting some international competition. That was really important," Reid said following the conclusion of the tour on Monday. In the four-match tour, India secured a 6-1 win and 1-1 draw against Germany in Krefeld and then followed this up with a 1-1 draw and 3-2 win over Great Britain here. The experience, Reid feels will be critical in their preparations for the Tokyo Games.