Mandeep Mor to lead Indian Junior Men's hockey team in Sultan of Johor Cup
Hockey India has named the 18-member Indian junior hockey squad for the eighth edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup to be held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia from October 6 to October 13. Defender Mandeep Mor will lead the Indian side with striker Shilanand Lakra as his deputy in the six-nation tournament.
India will play hosts Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and Great Britain in five round-robin matches in the tourney. The top two teams will qualify for the final which is scheduled to be held on October 13. The rest of the four teams will play classification matches. The Indian team will play their opening match against hosts Malaysia on October 6.
Jude Felix will be the coach of the side with Mandeep Mor taking on the responsibility of leading the Indian colts. Kamalbir Singh and Pankaj Kumar Rajak are the two goalkeepers in the side. The defence line up includes skipper Mandeep, Suman Beck, Mohd Faraz, Somjeet, Prince and Varinder Singh while Yashdeep Siwach, Harmanjit Singh, Vishnu Kant Singh, Gopi Kumar Sonkar, Vishal Antil, and Haspreet Singh will form the Indian mid-filed in the competition. The forward line of the Indian team comprises Gursahabjit Singh, Abhishek, Prabhjot Singh, and vice-captain Shilanand Lakra.
High-performance director of Hockey India David John is of the opinion that the players selected in the squad will not only get a good exposure from this tournament but also they have the calibre to challenge some of the best teams in the tournament.
“We have selected the team for the Sultan of Johor Cup keeping in mind the exposure that these young players will be getting at the tournament. We will be up against some of the best teams in the youth category, and we believe that this set of players can challenge the other teams for the title in Johor Bahru," stated David.
"Coach Jude Felix has tried different combinations during our tour of Belgium earlier this year and during the National Camp in Bengaluru, and these 18 players have shown great ability and desire to succeed. It will be a crucial tournament for some of the athletes as this will be their first major assignment with the Indian Junior team, but I am sure that it will be a learning curve to remember for all the players which shall help in their development.”
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