India Junior Men Team eye for a win against Argentina in the ongoing 5th Sultan of Johor Cup

After a close fought match against Great Britain in the league match yesterday, the India Junior Men Team is eyeing for an encouraging result in their next match against Argentina tomorrow in the ongoing 5th Sultan of Johor Cup, being played at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

India started the campaign with a win against Pakistan, beating them 5-1. The Junior team continued their attacking game in their second match against Great Britain but they came back strongly in the second half and defeated India by 4-3. After this unfortunate loss, the Indian Junior Men is preparing harder to regain their winning form and earn more points to seal their place in the Semi-final.

India faced Argentina twice in 2013 and registered convincing wins on both occasions. The Indian colts defeated Argentineans by 3-2 in the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia and repeated their success in the Hero Hockey Junior World Cup Men 2013, where they outplayed the Latin American team by 4-2. Before that, the India Junior Team easily beat Argentina by 6-1 to clinch their maiden FIH Junior World Cup Men title in 2001 in Hobart, Australia.

Riding with forward Sumit Kumar’s stick-work, the team is confident to get back their winning momentum in the upcoming matches. Along with Sumit Kumar the rest of the forward line-up includes names like Arman Qureshi, Ajay Yadav and Parvinder Singh who provide the much required strength and will be looking at maximum circle penetration.

On the other side Argentina started their campaign with a huge upset of the tournament, beating Australia 1-0. Argentina will aim at continuing their aggressive charges and attacking play against India tomorrow.

Speaking ahead of the match against Argentina, the India Junior Men Team’s Coach Harendra Singh said, “The Team is geared-up for the next challenge and looking for a close battle tomorrow. We have beaten Argentina in the past and outplayed them in all the matches. The team in the last two matches have showed their best game during vital moments and their mental strength is quite strong. We are expecting a positive result in tomorrow’s game.”

India Junior Men Team’s Captain Harjeet Singh added, “We are playing against Argentina after a long time but we have knowledge of their playing style. We have beaten them earlier and this time also we will play to win the match. They have good players in their side. We will play with our natural game and hold our defence strongly. We are geared-up and looking forward for the match.”

India will face Argentina in their third match of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup at 16:05 on 14th October 2015.