Junior Indian hockey squad announced for the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup
The junior Indian men’s hockey squad was announced by Hockey India for the upcoming edition of the Johor Cup. The six-nation tournament is being organised by the Malaysian Hockey Federation from 11th October to 18th October in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
The men’s junior team will be led by the Punjab-based midfielder Harjeet Singh with the support of 17-year old defender Dipsan Tirkey as the vice-captain. The junior Blues team will have to face the likes of Pakistan, Malaysia, Great Britain, Argentina and Australia in order to defend the title for the straight second time.
“We are undergoing scrupulous training sessions”
The 19-year old skipper Harjeet was quoted as saying, “We are the defending champions and the boys are excited about retaining the title. We are not allowing pressure to take over us. The team is in a very good shape and confident to perform as per expectations in the upcoming 5th Sultan of Johor Cup,” as Hockey India reports.
The junior Blues team will have to face the likes of Pakistan, Malaysia, Great Britain, Argentina and Australia in order to win the 6-nation tournament for the straight third time.
Currently, the junior team is undergoing a 3-week preparatory camp at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi. The skipper Harjeet assured that the team is working hard on the defensive structures of the team and to close down the gaps at the back in order to blunt down the opposition attacks.
He added, “We are undergoing scrupulous training sessions and we feel huge improvement in the way we are passing the ball to each other and the way we are working on converting on opportunities. Also, we are effectively working on rectifying the mistakes committed in the previous tournaments which will help us to achieve desired goals.”
“The team is all geared up to face the challenge ahead”
The junior men’s team head coach, Mr. Harinder Singh is confident of a good show in Malaysia and was quoted as saying on the team’s preparation, “The boys are confident of the tournament ahead and they aim to retain the title. The team has worked on their game as per each teams’ performance in the recent past. We have spent time watching past videos, understanding where we made mistakes and how well we ensure that the same are not repeated. The team is all geared up to face the challenge ahead.”
The inaugural match will see the junior teams from Australia and Argentina clash in what we all are hoping to be a fierce encounter between the two big shots of hockey. The Blues will start their campaign against their arch-rivals Pakistan in the next encounter on the opening day.
Full 18-member squad:
Goalkeepers: Suraj Karkera, Vikas Dahiya
Defenders: Varun Kumar, Dipsan Tirkey(VC), Anand Lakra, Vikramjit Singh, Harmanpreet Singh
Midfielders: Nilakanta Sharma, Harjeet Singh(C), Santa Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Manpreet
Forwards: Arman Qureshi, Gurjant Singh, Ajay Yadav, Parvinder Singh, Sumit Kumar, Ajit Kumar Pandey