Asian Champions Trophy is the last tournament for the players who will be part of upcoming Junior Men’s World Cup to be held in Delhi from December 6th. In order to give them maximum exposure, Hockey India has decided to field a young side for the tournament to be held in Kakamigahara, Japan from this Saturday.
Of the mid-fielder Manpreet Singh-led-18-member squad, 13 players were part of the triumphant Sultan of Johor Cup team. Ace centre-half and skipper Sardar Singh and other seniors like PR Sreejesh, SV Sunil, VR Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh have been rested.
Coach Gregg Clark said that this tournament will be a part of the process to build the team in the best possible manner for the U-21 event.
“The build up has been good. We had good three weeks of training here. We have the Johor Cup success with us and we have the bulk of that team. So, I am happy with the preparation. For me it’s about how well the team can execute our plans as effectively as possible each day. The tactical knowledge of players have certainly grown,” Clark told reporters before leading his team to mid-night flight on Tuesday.
“The Junior World Cup is merely five weeks away so the preparations are mainly aimed at that. We are testing out some new combinations. It’s all part of the process to try and make sure that come December 6, we are in the best place as a team,” the South African added.
One of the best examples of new combinations the coach is talking about is the inclusion of Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh. Both the strikers were not in Johor Cup. But, they have been playing with the senior side for a year now. Both are talented and in terms of preference, they are starters in the team.
But, they have to adjust to a new team and play under a new coach. Other crucial factor is comeback of drag-flicker Gurjinder Singh. He will be a key figure in defence as well. He was a part of the national side in the World Hockey league Round Two but was dropped for being unfit. Since then Gurjinder has worked hard on fitness and bears a thinner and fresher look. In the Johor Cup, Indians had struggled in converting the penalty corners.
India will open their campaign against China on November 2, followed by matches against Japan (Nov 3), Oman (Nov 5), Pakistan (Nov 7) and Malaysia (Nov 8).
“We will just try to build on what we did previously in Johor Cup in terms of all our structures. We scored some good penalty corners there but we need to better our conversion rate. Gurjinder Singh is in the team, he wasn’t in Johor. He is very effective in penalty corners. So the tournament will be a test for him. The strength of the team is that we have got 13 players from the Sultan of Johor Cup team. Hopefully, the players who are coming in can add really good value. For guys like Mandeep and Akashdeep who have joined the team, it is an opportunity to learn from myself and Baljit Saini, their style may be slightly different from Roelant Oltmans’ coaching in the Asia Cup,” Clark said.