Lucknow: A formidable Indian team will be aiming to end their title drought spanning over a decade and half when they take on minnows Canada in their opening group league fixture in the 11th FIH Junior Hockey World Cup, starting here Thursday. India had last won the title at Hobart in 2001. German coach Valentin Altenburg has already declared India to be one of the top contenders for the world title.
Sixteen teams have been put into four groups of four teams each. India are placed in Pool D alongside Canada, England and South Africa. Should the home team finish in the top two of the group stages, which they are expected to, they will have to face one of the top two teams from Pool C, which comprises defending champions Germany, New Zealand and Spain.
Besides the title triumph in 2001, India’s other notable result in the Junior World Cup is a runners-up finish in the 1997 edition of the event in Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom.
This time around India are fielding one of the strongest teams in the event which features full internationals like captain Harjeet Singh, striker Mandeep Singh, defender and drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh and goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya.
The Harendra Singh-coached side is also approaching the World Cup on the back of a strong performance in a four-nation invitational tournament in Valencia in October, where they defeated a strong field comprising Germany, Belgium and hosts Spain to emerge victorious.
Group table
Pool A: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Korea
Pool B: The Netherlands, Malaysia, Belgium, Egypt
Pool C: Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Japan
Pool D: India, England, Canada, South Africa
Coach asks boys to keep it ‘simple’
More than the players, it is apparent that Harendra Singh, the head coach of the junior Indian hockey team, is under pressure. However, he is not bothered by the expectations of the hockey-loving nation and has just asked the boys ‘to take it one step’ at a time. India start their campaign Thursday against Canada.
Harendra said his side were focused on taking the first step correctly and that is to beat Canada. “I have told the boys that a mountaineer never aims at the summit, he or she only concentrates on every single step. If he/she keeps on looking at the summit from the word go he/she will never succeed in climbing it,” he said on the eve of India’s opening match.
“We are approaching one match at a time. But I can guarantee all that I won’t let anyone leave the tournament disappointed. I can promise you one thing that these 18 boys will show their best hockey to you and the world,” added Harendra who took over the team in 2014.
The coach has also warned his wards against doing ‘special’ things in any match and asked them to concentrate on implementing their game plan and playing simple hockey.
“From my experience I have learnt that we try to do many special things against all teams. But this is not possible in modern hockey. You just need to concentrate on your own game plan. We must ensure that whatever we have learnt in the training should be implemented in match situations. If we try new things it won’t work,” said Harendra.
India colts captain Harjeet Singh, who has the experience of playing in the senior side, said the time has come for them to accomplish their mission which was set in 2014.
“We are very excited. When we started as a group in 2014, coach sir (Harendra) told us that we have a mission and we have been working towards that. We have been practicing hard, putting in efforts and now it’s time for us to prove ourselves,” said Harjeet.