Times of India: We need a strong junior hockey side to develop senior team: Harendra Singh
NEW DELHI: Indian junior men’s hockey team coach Harendra Singh believes the idea behind a strong youth team is not just about winning but also providing the senior national team with a steady production line.
“The idea behind a strong youth team is not just to win and play tournaments at this level, but also have a steady production line of prospects up for the senior team. For that to happen, the gap between the two must not be too varied,” Harendra said ahead of his wards opening match at the EurAsia Cup in Russia on Saturday.
“With Harmanpreet (Singh) and Harjeet (Singh) staking strong claims in the senior side right now, we have already proved that India has a huge depth in talent. Now the trick is to ensure consistency. This has to happen regularly,” he added.
With an eye on the Junior World Cup in Lucknow later this year, the primary objective of the junior team will be to gain perspective about their abilities and learn from experiences of playing at the big stage.
“The idea behind these tours is not just to gain experience individually, but to gain experience as a side. It is important,” Indian junior team captain and defender Dipsan Tirkey said.
He said the junior team always draws inspiration from the senior team. “Having watched their (seniors) performances of late, especially in the Champions Trophy, we are highly motivated to ensure the standards do not dip. We will do our best to learn from the way they played and ensure we produce good performances on the tour,” Tirkey added.
After the EurAsia Cup Indian colts will travel to England later this month for a six match series.