The Hindu: Indian juniors now target the World

By Uthra Ganesan

India’s comprehensive 6-2 title win over Pakistan in the junior Asia Cup in Malaysia was the culmination of a dominant performance that saw the Indians remain undefeated throughout the tournament.

No wonder coach Harendra Singh was proud of his wards. “The fact that we have been together for almost 18-20 months made the difference. When I changed the strategy for the final and told the players to use the entire space and open up the game, the players understood what I wanted. Pakistan could not come to terms with the changes,” Harendra told The Hindu .

The coach, who celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, admitted it was the best gift he could have received. “We decided not to turn the match into an occasion; that adds to the pressure. I never once stressed on the opposition, only told the players to work on their basics and the results would come. Now, the target is to continue improving with the 2016 Junior World Cup in mind,” Harendra said.

Captain Harjeet Singh agreed. “There was slight pressure because it was Pakistan, so the final score line made us very happy. Now we are only concentrating on the World Cup and on iron out the few concerns we identified through this tournament.”

The players now have a week-long break before re-assembling in Bangalore for the next camp starting December 1.