K. ARUMUGAM

Two tournaments in which strong contender India figures start today within a gap of seven hours. While its opener of the 11th Sultan of Johor Cup at distant Malaysia for our colts, India is hosting the other at its hockey provenance Jharkhand. The latter is the first-ever AHF Women’s tournament on our soils in three decades. Under-21 boys start their title defence at Johor with a Pakistan match in the 10-Nation event (13.30 IST). Indian women, jaded and exhausted after Hangzhou no show, will take on Thailand in the evening (20.30 IST) with a fond hope of refurbishing their image.

Indian team that successfully defended the SOJC in 2014

It is pertinent to note that the Johor event, as it is coming a month before the Junior World Cup, will be a dress rehearsal for all the 10 participating teams. Since inception, the SoJC used to have only six teams with Round Robin format. The Jr World Cup saw the numbers swelling to 10 now. Its because of lurking Jr World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

On the other hand, except China the reigning Asian Games champions, the WACT is a test bed before the all important Paris Olympic Qualifier. Both the colts and our women therefore will be looking to fine tune their wares before the Jr World Cup and January Qualifier, respectively.

India – Pakistan contests are no longer as it used to be – an intense affair the whole sports world used to look for. Historically, its pay back time for India, as it has undoubtedly established suzerainty over their once tormentors. India was on backfoot for almost four decades since late 60s, and the history seem to taunt the Pakistan now, as its rival India is returning in the same coin.

The recent historic 10-2 whitewash at Hangzhou was the latest of humiliations the ace team of the past had endured since its decline started in the early last decade.

The tradition continues in the Sultan of Johor Cup too. Pakistan is yet to beat India in five encounters.  Except a draw 0-0 witnessed in the second edition, India has been comprehensively beating Pak.

The scorelines 5-1 in the inaugural year, 4-0 in 2013, 6-0 in 2014 and 5-1 in 2015 vouchsafe for the Pakistan’s dismality and India’s superiority.

There is not any recent development that would put Uttam Singh’s India from continuing the trend.

This of course we all know Dutch legend Roelant Oltmans has been assisting Pakistan’s junior program for sometime now.

TODAY’S FIXTURE (27th Oct 2023)

11th Sultan of Johor Cup

13.35 India Vs Pakistan

15.35 Australia Vs Great Britain

18.05 Malaysia Vs New Zealand

7th Jharkhand Women’s Champions Trophy

16.00 hrs: Japan Vs Malaysia

18.15 hrs: China Vs South Korea

20.30 hrs: India Vs Thailand