Diwakar to lead India colts in Australian Youth Olympic

NEW DELHI: Promising dragflicker Diwakar Ram will lead a 16-member strong India Under-21 hockey squad to the four-nation Australian Youth Olympic Festival to be held at Olympic Stadium, Sydney from January 14-18.
   
All the 16 members picked today following trials in Bhopal were in the 21-member squad that toured Argentina for a test series earlier this month. The remaining five who were in Argentina were kept as stand byes for the Sydney tournament.
    
Apart from India and hosts Australia, the tournament will feature Malaysia and Great Britain. The U-21 men's hockey team, under coach AK Bansal, is on on a high in the international circuit this year. Apart from retaining the Junior Asia Cup title in Hyderabad, the colts also defeated World Champions Argentina 1-0 in the four-match
Test series.

These tournaments are seen a exposure trips for the team before the Junior World Cup at Singapore and Malaysia in June next year.