Tough opening match awaits Indian colts in Johor Cup hockey

JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia): A tough encounter awaits inexperienced Indian colts when they take on Korea in their opening match of the six-nation Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament on Saturday.

The six-nation event at the Taman Raya Stadium is looked upon as India’s first serious preparation for next Junior World Cup which they will host in two years from now.

Apart from India and Korea, the eight-day tournament will also feature arch-rivals Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and hosts Malaysia.

The tournament will not only turn out to be a stiff test for the Indian players but also for the support staff, including chief coach Mukesh Kumar, who is on his maiden assignment with the national side.

Mukesh is very popular in Malaysia as he played for different domestic clubs here in the mid 90s. But from tomorrow, it will be a different sort of a challenge for the a three-time Olympian as he will be determined to prove his coaching mettle in the event.

Even for Mukesh’s two assistants in the side, Lajrus Barla and Sandeep Sangwan, the six-nation tournament will mark their maiden entry into the international coaching arena.

If inexperience was not enough, India were also hit hard by the unexpected injury to defender Gurjinder Singh, who was supposed to lead the side but was ruled out at the last minute after sustaining an injury in the national camp in Bangalore.

Gurjinder’s exit forced the management to recall Harpreet Singh, but lack of experience in the backline remains a matter of concern for assistant coach Barla.

“Not only the defenders, the whole team lacks experience. It’s their first tournament but things will improve once the ball starts rolling here. We have Amit Rohidas and Sampath Kumar as other defenders who have been regulary practicing in the camp. Therefore, we should not have much problem,” Barla said.

Not only the backline, Lajrus is also responsible for the training of Indian goalkeepers, Harmanpreet Singh and Naveen Kumar Prasad.

“Naveen played in the Uner-18 tournament, and is good at his job,” Barla said.

India’s Mohammad Muneer is the technical director of the tournament.