The optimism is not unfounded. In the tournament in Valencia that ended on October 30, India thrashed Germany 5-2 in the final.
The FIH Junior World Cup (JWC) is less than a month away, and the Indian hockey team couldn't have hoped for a better build-up to the tournament to be held in Lucknow from December 8-18.
Not only has the team tasted victory in its last event before the WC – the 4-Nation International Tournament in Valencia – but has also tested its mettle in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) before that. The Indian colts lost the bronze medal match there, but came back with a wealth of experience.
"I think this team has all the potential to stand on the centre of the podium. We can surely win the gold," India junior coach Harendra Singh said on Tuesday.
The optimism is not unfounded. In the tournament in Valencia that ended on October 30, India thrashed Germany 5-2 in the final. The German boys, for the record, are two-time defending champions, wining the JWC in 2013 as well as 2009. A victory like that in the last tournament before the JWC is bound to provide a boost to the confidence of the young ones.
"It was a very important victory, coming just days ahead of the JWC," Singh, who has been in charge of the team since April 2014, said. "We played against the world's best teams in Germany, Belgium and Spain. Germany are the world champions, and we beat them twice in the tournament, and by very convincing margins. It's always nice to finish winners in the last tournament before a World Cup. It gives a very good sense of confidence to the players as well as the team as the whole."
Perhaps what gives this team the edge going into the JWC is the number of exposure trips it has had over the last couple of years. Most notable of those was the colts playing with the state teams Down Under in the AHL, which was a first for Indian hockey. The coach said it was a conscious effort by the management and the federation to arrange such trips ahead in the lead-up to the JWC."Before, these boys were getting exposure by playing only in Asia, not hockey powerhouses like Australia and Europe. But over the last two to two-and-a-half years, the junior team has travelled to Australia and Europe also, which wasn't the case earlier.
"Such tournaments and matches help the team grow in experience as well as confidence towards a big tournament. I think our planning and execution has been really good, and that's why the boys are mentally and physically ready to face any challenge during the JWC," the coach said.
The team started its final preparatory national camp in Bengaluru on Monday, and the selection trials for the squad for the JWC will be held on November 11.
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