KUALA LUMPUR – The Indian hockey team arrives in Kuala Lumpur with a mission to redeem itself after a disappointing fourth-place finish at the last edition of the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) Men’s Junior World Cup, held in Bhubaneswar, India in 2021.
Two years ago on home ground, India finished fourth after losing 3-1 to France.
Head coach C.R. Kumar is looking for his men to put up a good performance this time, so they can bring the trophy back home with them.
The 61-year-old said it was difficult for the team to get enough games to work out the kinks during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
“All the top teams will be on the same page when it comes to wanting to win the tournament and we are no different.
“We last won this trophy in 2016, when it was hosted in Lucknow, and we are certainly looking to bring home the cup with us.
“This time we have been able to play a good number of games and that will help us to perform better in this world cup,” Kumar told reporters at a pre-match press conference today.
The two-time Junior World Cup winners will take on South Korea in their opening match on Tuesday and Kumar, while not underestimating the Koreans, is confident of besting the Koreans.
“We have won all the games that we played against South Korea so far in the last year, including in the Asia Cup in Oman. We had beaten them comfortably.
“We had also played some test matches against them in India and Malaysia and won all of those games also.
“But we are not going to underestimate them because we consider Korea as one of the contenders at this world cup. Every team will bring something new when they play in the world cup.
“We are always very cautious and will take it one game at a time,” he added.
The 2023 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil from December 5 to 16. Entrance is free. – December 3, 2023