Men's Junior Asia Cup 2023: Hockey India Announces Junior Men's Team

 

Bengaluru: Hockey India on Thursday announced the 18-member Indian Junior Men's Hockey Team for the forthcoming Men's Junior Asia Cup 2023 to be held in Salalah, Oman from May 23 to June 1.

 

India in Pool A with Pakistan

This will be a qualifying event for the FIH Junior Men's World Cup in Malaysia to be held in December. India is Pool A along with Pakistan, Japan, Thailand and Chinese Taipei while Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan are grouped in pool B.

 

Uttam Singh will lead Junior Team

 

The Indian Junior Men's Team features an experienced mix of players who have in the past played the previous edition of FIH Junior World Cup in 2021 held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha as well as in 10th Sultan of Johor Cup 2022 where India clinched the title. Uttam Singh has been named the Captain with Boby Singh Dhami as the Vice Captain of the squad.

Mohith HS and Himwaan Sihag have been named as goalkeepers while Shardanand Tiwari, Rohit, Amandeep Lakra, Amir Ali and Yogember Rawat will form India's defence.

 

The midfield will see the experienced Vishnukant Singh who had a fantastic outing during the recently-held FIH Hockey Pro League in Rourkela. He will be joined by Rajinder Singh, Poovanna CB, Amandeep and Sunit Lakra while Boby Singh Dhami, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Aditya Lalage, Uttam Singh, Sudeep Chirmako and Angad Bir Singh have been named in the forward line.

 

Team is very well prepared for tournament

Speaking about the team selection, Indian Junior Men's Coach CR Kumar said, "We have a fairly experienced team with some of the players also having made their Senior debut in the recent tournaments. Winning the Sultan of Johor Cup was a big motivating factor and the team is very well prepared for this tournament."

 

"We have gone through two preparatory and two competition cycles which have helped the players gain the right amount of exposure. With the Senior team also based out of the same camp here at SAI, Bengaluru, we were able to get ample experience playing matches against them. The team is upbeat and we look to finish on the top," Kumar added.