5 young Indian hockey players who can break into the senior side for Rio 2016
The Young Indian team won the Junior Asia Cup by thrashing Pakistan 6-2 in the finalIt has been an astonishing year for the Indian hockey fans and most importantly for Hockey India. The senior men’s team ended the year on a high after winning the bronze medal at the recently concluded Hockey World League Finals in Raipur.However, the young junior team has all the reasons to be overjoyed too. The junior team participated in a total of 3 international tournaments, playing a total of 18 matches in the process.The main high came when the Blues lifted the Junior Asia Cup by thrashing arch-rivals Pakistan 6-2 in the final, taking their total goal tally for the tournament to whopping 32 with an average of 6 goals per match. Indian Junior team performance in 2015:MatchesWonDrawLostGoals ForGoals AgainstGoal Difference1812155728+29We look at the top 5 prospect young guns who can make their way into the senior team:
#5 Armaan Qureshi
The 20-year old Armaan Qureshi has been an integral part of the young Indian team and has played a very significant role in India’s success in this calendar year.
He was picked by Jaypee Punjab Warriors for USD 4500 in the recently concluded Hockey India League auctions and will be hoping to gain invaluable experience from the heavyweights such as Skipper of the senior side Sardar Singh, Australian’s Simon Orchard and Chris Ciriello.
The Madhya Pradesh-based halfback found the back of the net in India’s losing cause against The Netherlands in the Volvo U-21 Invitational Tournament and also scored in Blues hammering of arch-rivals Pakistan in the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup.