Asia

Indian players want to win Tokyo Hockey Bronze medal

November 23, 2021
Henry Club

After a pandemic-forced hiatus of almost two years, the hockey world returned to a familiar playing field: Bhubaneswar. This time, however, with an unmistakable difference.

The Kalinga Stadium, which is usually buzzing on the eve of the match, is discharged with general fanfare. There are no queues outside the stadium for tickets, no vendors selling flags, and no face-painters setting up makeshift shops. This sprawling facility lacks guards ensuring only the entitled ones.

Blame the pandemic for the Junior World Cup, which has become a low-key affair. The 16-nation tournament will begin on Wednesday behind closed doors and in a strict bio-secure environment. All this has taken away some of the shine but has not made the World Cup any less relevant.

Shane McLeod, world hockey’s most successful coach over the past five years, puts this in perspective. “It’s a really good way to know which countries are going to do well in the next eight years,” said the New Zealander, who coached the Belgian team that won Rio Olympic silver, the 2018 World Cup and Tokyo gold. Indian Express, “It is no coincidence that the teams that played in the finals of the last Junior World Cup finished another three in the Olympic Games.”

McLeod was referring to India and Belgium, who were champions and runners-up respectively in the 2016 Junior World Cup. Seven Indians and five Belgian players from that final, including reserves, played at the Tokyo Olympics.

In that context, the Junior World Cup holds a lot of significance – the next two weeks will provide some insight into whether the players’ supply chain will continue to produce talent as India continues its revival and hopes to build on Tokyo bronze. does.

But it won’t be so straightforward.

The defending champions and hosts begin their campaign against France, a team that has been punching well above its weight over the years. However, that’s not the only reason matcha could potentially be a banana skin.

Like many other teams, India too enters the tournament blindfolded.

First match after 776 days

Wednesday’s match against France will be India’s first Under-21 match after 776 days. Over the past few days, he has played for the Netherlands, USA and Germany to warm up for the Junior World Cup. However, they didn’t come close to replicating real-match scenarios. The pandemic devastated the hockey calendar, but it had an even more devastating effect on junior events around the world, given that there are few international tournaments for them anyway.

As a result, there is not much Intel Available on players from other teams, with coaches relying largely on the styles and patterns used by a particular country’s senior sides to predict how the Under-21s might play. Also, coaches do not know how their own players will react in a certain situation.

India’s senior team coach Graham Reid, who has been given the charge of juniors for this competition, accepted the same. “We do not know (how the players will perform). And I think if you ask any coach in the world the answer will be there because we don’t really know how the opposition is,” he said.

sticking together

One of the few things that has worked in India’s favor is that the core of the current Under-21 group is together since 2017. Eight of them, including captain Vivek Sagar Prasad, were part of the side that won the silver medal in 2018 Youth. The Olympics, however, were played in a five-a-side format.

Most of his time, however, has been spent within the confines of the Sports Authority of India’s southern center in Bengaluru, where the players were kept in a bio-bubble through the pandemic.

Cut off from the rest of the hockey world, India’s junior team spent time in training camp learning English, receiving motivational and psychology sessions. He got to play only one match, which was either intra-squad, or against India’s senior team. “They actually beat us in one of the games we played,” said India captain Manpreet Singh.

influence of superiors

However, the influence of the senior team on the under-21 players has been considerable.

The playing style of the junior team is largely similar to that of the senior, given that both the players are training together according to the same philosophy. The juniors were coached by BJ Cariappa before Reid was given temporary charge soon after the Tokyo Olympics. However, coaches are not the only ones preparing players.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, one of the heroes of India’s bronze medal match against Germany in Tokyo, has been closely associated with Prashant Chauhan and Pawan, the two mentors of the junior team.

Drag-flicker Sanjay, who is the vice-captain, is taking advice from senior team stalwarts Harmanpreet Singh and Rupinderpal Singh. “He spent a day or two with us every week, teaching us how to beat the first runner, how to make the first few moves when taking a flick and how to release the ball…” Sanjay said.

Prasad, the only player in the junior team who was also a part of the Olympic team, looks to Manpreet for inspiration. Prasad plays as mid-half, a position similar to Manpreet, but it is the leadership skills that impress the 21-year-old.

He is closely watching Manpreet, who captained India in the 2013 Junior World Cup before becoming one of the star players of the senior team. “I have seen how Manpreet manages the team, takes everyone along. I want to repeat it in an important tournament,” Prasad said.

Prasad is seen by many as captaincy material of the future. And the Junior World Cup will give a glimpse of his abilities as a leader. As such it will provide a glimpse into the stars of the future. For them, empty stadiums and lack of buzz don’t matter much.

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