The 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup to be held in New Delhi will be the blockbuster event that the Indian team will be looking forward to. And their preparations for the showpiece event would start in earnest at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) South Centre in Bengaluru from April 7. This will be a long-drawn camp that is expected to run well into the month of May.
The international calendar of the Indian junior men’s hockey team is yet to be hammered out but it is learnt that the national colts will undertake a European tour in July. The Indian boys are expected to feature in a six-national international tournament in Valencia, Spain sometime in September. The Indian colts are also slated to play in the Sultan of Johor Cup – a tournament, where they finished runners-up last year, losing to Great Britain in the final, having won it in 2013 and 2014.
Although nothing is crystal clear, it looks like the national team should play three international events going into the 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup. It’s not about three tournaments being inadequate for our preparations, but about the fact there aren’t too many international tournaments happening for the junior team. “We have to understand that junior hockey does not have so many international events like senior hockey. This applies to not just Indian hockey but also across the globe,” says Indian junior men’s hockey team coach Harendra Singh.
There is no doubt that the 2016 Coal India Hockey India League belonged to the Indian youngsters. The likes of Sumit Kumar, Armaan Qureshi, Nilakanta Sharma among others have really dazzled on the pitch. “I would like to thank all the franchises for blooding so many youngsters in the 2016 HIL. It’s a great thing for India hockey and I’m sure these youngsters will be our future in the coming years,” says Harendra, the man who coached Ranchi Rays, who lost in the semifinals this time around.
One hopes that our junior team hit the training drills in Bengaluru and gives us reasons to rejoice at the 2016 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup after finishing a disappointing 10th when the last time the marquee event was held in India in 2014.
