Times of India: Junior hockey team hugely inspired by senior counterparts: Harendra

BENGALURU: An upbeat Indian junior hockey squad led by skipper Dipsan Tirkey will depart for the EurAsia Cup on Wednesday, vying to put up a fine show when the event gets underway in Yekatarinberg, Russia on Saturday.

While the senior men’s team enters an exciting phase in the countdown to the Rio Olympics, the junior side including talented players such as Santa Singh, Parvinder Singh and dragflick expert Varun Kumar will look to make India proud.
“These tournament forms part of our preparations for the Junior World Cup to be held in Lucknow the end of this year. It will be a good platform to test new players and try out different combinations,” said junior India coach Harendra Singh.

“Based on the performance in Russia and later in England, it will help us create a strong pool of players before picking the final team for the World Cup,” he added.

Singh said the senior men’s team’s recent performances in London where they won an historic silver medal at the FIH Champions Trophy has hugely inspired the junior team.

“The junior men closely follow all the matches played by the senior team and they have been highly motivated after watching their senior counterparts excel in the Champions Trophy,” he said.

“Since we have started the camp here in Bengaluru where the senior team has been training as well, the men have had a chance to closely interact with some of the senior players and learn from them,” he added.