Vivek Sagar Prasad keen to use experience with the senior team at Junior Hockey World Cup
Olympics hockey bronze medalist from Tokyo 2020, Vivek Sagar Prasad feels that playing the senior team, along with the world's best, will come in handy at the upcoming FIH Junior Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar. Interestingly, senior side and the juniors have been training together in Bengaluru.
“Our preparations are going really well and every player is giving his 100 percent on the field during practice. Sharing the same campus as the senior team has been the biggest boon because we have been able to get a lot of match practice against them,” said Prasad.
“We also spend a lot of time talking to the seniors about playing under pressure and then experiences they share is valuable,” added Prasad, who was part of the Indian team that won a historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
Team India are placed in Group B alongside Canada, France and Poland, while Pool A consists of Belgium, Malaysia, South Africa and Chile. In Group C are the Netherlands, Spain, Korea and the United States, while Germany, Argentina, Pakistan and Egypt are in Pool D.
While talking about the competition, Prasad said, “No doubt it will be a tough competition but we will continue to go by the mantra of taking one-match-at-a-time. Our first priority will be to top the group and make it to the quarterfinals.”
“…for me, I never had the opportunity of playing in the 2016 FIH Junior Men’s World Cup as I had suffered an injury and eventually never made the team. I am really looking forward to use my experience with the senior team. Our focus is to make it to the podium."