Bengaluru: The Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team left for Malaysia, in the late hours of Monday, to participate in the 12th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup. India will face off against hosts Malaysia, Japan, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand in the competition that will begin on 19th October and end on 26th October.
Newly appointed Head Coach, PR Sreejesh will take charge of the team in Malaysia with Amir Ali serving as Captain and Rohit named as his deputy.
India will begin their campaign against Japan on 19th October, followed by a clash with Great Britain on 20th October. After a day’s rest, India will face hosts Malaysia on 22nd October, followed by a match with Australia on 23rd October. In the last group stage match, on 25th October, India will take on New Zealand and hope to finish among the top two teams in the pool in order to advance to the Final on 26th October.
Captain Amir Ali expressed his optimism ahead of the tournament saying, “The team has been training well under the new Head Coach PR Sreejesh and we are excited to play our first tournament with him. We failed to defend our title the last time after losing to Germany but we are better prepared this time and ready to face any team in the competition.”
Vice Captain Rohit echoed his thoughts saying, “We have been training rigorously the last few days in order to be in the best shape ahead of the Sultan of Johor Cup. We have a few new faces in the team this time and they are eager to show their potential on the pitch. We have the Men’s Junior Asia Cup Muscat 2024 also coming up in November and all the players are pushing each other to raise their level ahead of a busy period for us.”
