Junior Hockey World Cup: India's preparations on cue, importance of practice matches stressed upon

The Indian hockey team's chief coach Graham Reid is a man on a mission. The man who coached the Indian senior men's team to a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics is now overseeing the Indian junior men's hockey team's preparation for the Hockey World Cup.

India start their title defense on November 24 against France and are placed in Group B alongside Canada, France and Poland.

During a conversation with Hockey India, Reid opined that the Indian men's junior hockey team should play a few practice matches before the marquee tournament commences. He said:

"What is important for us is to get some good practice matches in Bhubaneswar so the players get a feel of the pitch. I am talking to coaches of some European teams to see if we can play friendlies with them when they arrive in Bhubaneswar."

India are grouped in a relatively easy pool but Reid warned the Indian men's junior hockey team against being complacent. The coach said the players must focus on one match at a time and not think too far ahead.

"No team can be taken lightly in an event like the World Cup. I always tell the players to take it one match at a time and not get ahead of themselves at any point in the tournament until we have achieved what we have set out for."

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Indian hockey team preparing well at SAI campus

After playing against France on November 24, the Indian men's junior hockey team will play Canada the next day and Poland on November 27. All matches will be played at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar.

The Indian men's junior hockey team are currently training alongside the Indian men's senior hockey team at the SAI Center in Bengaluru. They are under the watchful eyes of Reid and junior side coach BJ Kariappa, who has been with the Indian team since 2017.

Kariappa said that having the senior players around has been a blessing in disguise ahead of the Junior Hockey World Cup:

"The good thing about our preparations is that both junior and senior men are housed in the same campus here in SAI. We get to play a lot of internal matches with the senior team and the energy within the group is great and each one is pushing the other player to perform on a daily basis. This group has some really talented players with good skills. I believe we are ready for the challenge."

The other competing teams in the Junior Hockey World Cup are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands and United States.