We are ready to defend our crown, says Indian junior men’s goalkeeper Pawan ahead of the FIH Junior World Cup

The Men’s Junior World Cup in Odisha is a few days away, the tournament is starting on 24th November. The Blue Colts are prepared to give their all in this tournament as they prepare on applying the finishing touches ahead of the tournament. The Indian team are confident in defending their crown and being at home is obviously an added advantage.

India junior men’s goalkeeper Pawan highlights how the team has a great bonding and are itching for the tournament to start. They are working on their final preparations for the showpiece event.

“We have been working extremely hard in training camp here in SAI Bengaluru for the last five months as we prepare for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup. Our focus for the entire period has been on this competition and we are really eager to do well this time. Our preparation has been going really well as we are particularly working on developing our fitness and stick work. We have been working well together as a group, and in these final few weeks our focus is on applying the finishing touches to our long and intense preparation,” says Pawan.

India will start their campaign against Canada, France and Poland in Pool B of the competition. The biggest opportunity that the Junior team had was getting a chance to prove their mettle against the Indian Senior Men’s team in training. Pawan shared how that training session gave the boys a lot of confidence and charged them up for the upcoming World Cup.

“The senior team has just returned from the Tokyo Olympics with a medal, so we get to learn a lot when the senior players share their experience with us. Moreover, when we train with them or compete against them in training, it is an amazing opportunity for us to learn from players who are playing at such a high level.”

Lastly, Pawan shared how the junior team also aims to make it big in Hockey and win an Olympic medal for India just like their seniors. He also pointed out how it has been a pleasure for them to work under chief coach Graham Reid who guided India to an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo recently.