Junior Hockey World Cup: India bank on attacking and drag-flicking prowess to outsmart Belgium in quarters

One
of
the
title
favourites,
India
were
slow
to
get
off
the
blocks
as
they
were
stunned
4-5
by
France
before
they
got
their
acts
together
and
thrashed
Canada
13-1
and
Poland
8-2
to
finish
second
in
Pool
B
and
qualify
for
the
knockout
round.

But
from
here
on,
the
Indians
need
to
play
their
hearts
out
if
they
want
to
win
the
title
for
the
third
time.

The
quarterfinal
against
Belgium
will
be
a
re-match
of
last
edition’s
final
where
India
beat
the
European
side
2-1
to
claim
the
title
under
Harendra
Singh
in
Lukcnow
in
2016.
And
come
Wednesday
(December
1),
it
is
expected
to
be
a
hard-fought
tie.

The
team
which
utilises
their
chances
is
expected
to
come
out
on
top.
India
boast
of
a
fiery
attacking
line-up
with
the
likes
of
Uttam
Singh,
Araijeet
Singh
Hundal,
Sudeep
Chirmako
and
Maninder
Singh.
Uttam
and
Maninder,
in
particular,
have
been
brilliant
inside
the
opponents’ circle.

To
add
to
India’s
strength
is
the
presence
of
penalty
corner
options
in
vice-captain
Sanjay
Kumar,
Hundal,
Shardanand
Tiwari
and
Abhishek
Lakra,
and
all
of
whom
have
scored
in
the
tournament
so
far.

Sanjay,
in
particular,
has
been
in
ominous
form
with
set
pieces
and
have
registered
back-to-back
hat-tricks
against
France
and
Canada,
while
Hundal
also
scored
three
goals
against
Poland.

The
midfield
is
in
safe
hands
of
skipper
Vivek
Sagar
Prasad,
who
already
has
the
experience
of
playing
top-level
hockey
having
been
part
of
India’s
historic
bronze
medal-winning
campaign
at
the
Tokyo
Olympics.

The
backline,
however,
remains
a
concern
and
the
likes
of
Sanjay,
Tiwari,
Lakra
and
Yashdeep
Siwach
will
have
to
be
on
their
toes
to
keep
the
Belgians
at
bay.

India’s
chief
coach
Graham
Reid,
who
is
in
charge
of
the
junior
side
for
this
tournament,
sounded
confident
ahead
of
the
crucial
tie.

“The
players
had
a
look
at
them
(Belgium)
and
we
are
very
confident.
Hopefully,
we
can
go
and
get
a
win,” said
the
Australian,
who
guided
India
to
the
Tokyo
Olympics
bronze.

India
captain
Vivek
too
echoed
his
coach’s
view.

“Belgium
is
a
very
good
team
and
we
will
try
to
do
our
best
against
them,”
he
said.

Belgium
have
never
won
the
Junior
World
Cup
and
pressure
would
be
high
on
them
to
replicate
the
success
of
their
senior
team,
which
is
the
reigning
Olympic
as
well
world
champions.

Belgium
head
coach
Jeroen
Baart
is
well
aware
of
India’s
threat
from
penalty
corners
and
said
his
players
will
need
to
keep
a
strong
defensive
structure
on
Wednesday
to
deal
with
it.

“India
were
very
efficient
(with
penalty
corners).
There
are
three
boys
(Sanjay,
Hundal
and
Tiwari)
who
are
very
good
in
PC
conversions.
Very
good
with
drag-filck,
very
aggressive
on
the
rebound.
It
is
obviously
a
big
threat,”
he
said.

“For
us,
it
starts
with
defending
with
a
really
high
sprint
outside
the
circle
and
don’t
fall
on
the
trap
of
giving
easy
PCs
away.
If
we
give
away
PCs,
we
really
depend
on
our
first
runners,
we
rely
on
our
goalkeepers.
We
rely
on
our
defensive
structure.”

With
the
tournament
being
held
inside
a
bio-bubble
due
to
the
COVID-19
threat,
Baart
feels
it
will
work
a
bit
in
his
side’s
favour.

“It’s
a
pressure
less
for
us.
It’s
something
we
are
not
really
used
to
(playing
in
front
of
packed
stadium).
Looking
back
at
2016
we
struggle
a
bit
in
the
first
half
of
the
tournament.
Indian
support
was
creative
in
Lucknow,”
said
Baart,
who
had
also
coached
the
side
in
the
last
edition
of
the
tournament.

“It
also
gives
some
extra
pressure
and
load
on
Indian
players.
I
am
really
curious
to
see
with
only
1000
spectators
inside
the
stadium.
But
there
will
be
a
lot
of
noise,
there
will
be
a
bit
of
atmosphere.”

In
the
other
quarterfinals
of
the
day,
Germany
will
play
Spain,
Netherlands
will
take
on
Argentina
and
France
will
square
off
against
Malaysia.

Junior
Hockey
World
Cup
2021
Quarterfinal
Schedule
and
Telecast
Info

Quarterfinal
Date:
Wednesday,
December
1

10:30
AM
IST:
Germany
vs
Spain

1:30
PM
IST:
Netherlands
vs
Argentina

4:30
PM
IST:
France
vs
Malaysia

7:30
PM
IST:
India
vs
Belgium

Live
Telecast:
Star
Sports
Network
–
Star
Sports
3

Live
Streaming:
Disney+HotStar
and

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