India on Wednesday, appointed Vivek Sagar Prasad the captain of Indian junior hockey team for upcoming Junior World Cup. Defender Sanjay has been appointed as the vice-captain of the team.
The FIH Men's Junior Hockey World Cup will be held in Bhubaneshwar from November 24.
Vivek Sagar Prasad was part of the Indian Hockey Team which won Bronze medal in recently held Tokyo Olympics and Sanjay Was Silver medallist at Youth Olympic Games 2018.
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The team includes Shardanand Tiwari, Prashant Chauhan, Sudeep Chirmako, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Maninder Singh, Pawan, Vishnukant Singh, Ankit Pal, Uttam Singh, Sunil Jojo, Manjeet, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Abhishek Lakra, Yashdeep Siwach, Gurmukh Singh, and Araijeet Singh Hundal with Graham Reid continuing as the head coach.
Head Coach Graham Reid, while talking about the team said that it is the hardest things in sports to choose the best 18 players to play for the country. He also underlined the sacrifices and efforts made by these players in last 12 to 18 years to be the part of this team.
"We have chosen a group of 20 players, a team of 18, and two alternate players, who we believe gives us the best chance of defending our title as Junior World Cup Champions. It is a well-balanced side with a lot of flexibility and flare. The key to these guys performing on the big stage will be to trust in each other and trust in their preparation," Reid was quoted as saying in the Hockey India release.
Reid further spoke of the team's ongoing preparations in Bhubaneswar where they are putting in the hard yards needed to succeed in the tournament. "The players have been thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to train for the last few days at Kalinga Hockey Stadium. Even though the ground will be empty, the Olympics have proven that the spectacle of hockey can still be enjoyed by everyone involved," Reid said.
India start their campaign on November 24 against France and will take on Canada on the next day in the round-robin league. Their last league match in the four-team pool will be against Poland on November 27. The top two teams from the preliminary round groups will qualify for the knockout quarterfinals, which will be played on December 1.
Among the other teams in the fray are Belgium, The Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, Canada, South Africa, Egypt, Pakistan, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, France, Chile, Spain, and USA.
The India U-21 Team: Shardanand Tiwari, Prashant Chauhan (GK), Sanjay (VC), Sudeep Chirmako, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Maninder Singh, Pawan (GK), Vishnukant Singh, Ankit Pal, Uttam Singh, Sunil Jojo, Manjeet, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Vivek Sagar Prasad (C), Abhishek Lakra, Yashdeep Siwach, Gurmukh Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal.
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