Times of India: Indian junior hockey team eager to play Pakistan

SHILAROO (Himachal Pradesh): The Indian junior hockey team is preparing hard and eagerly waiting for the fifth Sultan of Johor Cup where it will open its campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 11.

The tournament will take place in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, from October 11 to 18 where India will look to defend its title. The 32-member squad is currently training here under coach Harendra Singh.

“Our first game is against Pakistan and we are very excited to face them. Last year we beat them by a huge margin of 6-0 and we aim to attain a similar feat this time too,” said forward Armaan Qureshi on Wednesday.

“But we cannot take them lightly as they know our style of play and will surely come back with a strategy. But having said this, we have our game plan ready and we will go out to implement and win the match”.

Commenting on the training sessions, Qureshi added, “The training sessions have been very fruitful till now and we are getting positive results from our new game-plans and tactics.

“We are paying attention on quick attacks, receiving passes in detail which will ensure that we implement them perfectly in the upcoming tournament. The last tournament showcased the intent with which the players played to win and I am certain that the team will carry on the same agility in the impending tournament.”