Two-time winner India will commence its campaign in the 13th Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup against Korea ,in the first match in Pool C at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
India is going into this match with lot of confidence as they have a better head-to-head record against their rivals.. Out of the six matches played between the two teams, India won three, Korea won two, and one match ended in a draw.
The last time both teams faced each other was during the Semi-Final of the Junior Asia Cup held earlier this year where India registered a massive 9-1 win over Korea. The Men in Blue will then face Spain on the 7th December and Canada on the 9th December, respectively in their Pool C matches.
Speaking ahead of the opening game, Captain Uttam Singh said, “The wait is finally over for the World Cup, and we are very much confident of a good start. We recently played against Korea, so we are aware of the challenge, but the focus will be on us, on executing our plans, and playing good hockey.”
Uttam, who was part of the Indian Team’s fourth-place finish at the Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar , stated that they will go match-by-match in the tournament. “As always, our focus has been to go match-by-match, and our priority is to get a winning start and then focus on the following matches to proceed to the next stage of the tournament,”
Meanwhile, Coach C R Kumar said, “The players have worked hard, and are fully prepared for the tournament. Korea are a quality side, you can’t take them lightly. We have to respect every opponent, it is a bigger stage, so we will have to be cautious and back our strengths to get a good start in the tournament.”
Araijeet Singh Hundal, who scored the second goal in India’s 2-1 win over Pakistan in the Junior Asia Cup hockey final, will spearhead India’s challenge in the attack along with penalty corner specialist Amandeep Lakra.
India clinched the titles in 2001 and 2016. In the most recent edition in 2021, they secured a fourth-place finish following their loss to France in the bronze medal match.
This edition of the World Cup will see 16 teams, divided equally into four groups (A–D), compete for the top two spots in their group and secure a place in the quarter-finals. The bottom two teams from each group will enter classification rounds.
Defending champions and world No. 1 Argentina are in Pool A with former champions Australia. Germany, the most successful team with six titles, are in Pool B. European heavyweights Belgium, the Netherlands and Pakistan along with New Zealand form a tough Group D.
The quarter-finals will be held on December 12 and the semi-finals on December 14. The bronze medal match and the final will be played on December 16.
India:
Goalkeepers: Mohith HS, Ranvijay Singh Yadav
Defenders: Sukhvinder, Amandeep Lakra, Rohit, Sunil JoJo, Amir Ali
Midfielders: Vishnukant Singh, Poovanna CB, Rajinder Singh, Amandeep, Aditya Singh
Forwards: Uttam Singh (captain), Aditya Lalage, Araijeet Singh Hundal (vice-captain), Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Sudeep Chirmako, Boby Singh Dhami
Reserves: Yogember Rawat, Sunit Lakra