New Delhi [India], November 20 : Junior India women's hockey team coach, Tushar Khandekar said that defence is one area that the Indian regiment has worked significantly on in the recent times, ahead of the FIH Women's Junior Hockey World Cup 2025 which is set to take place in Santiago from December 1 to 13. Captain Jyoti Singh, on the other hand, expressed confidence about facing Germany in the league-stage match.
Jyoti will lead the 20-member Indian squad in the upcoming Women's Junior Hockey World Cup.
While speaking to ANI, Tushar Khandekar emphasised that the team has focused heavily on strengthening their defense ahead of the World Cup. He highlighted that while scoring goals can win matches, strong defense is crucial to winning tournaments, and the team has worked extensively on this aspect.
"I played my entire career for 12 years for the country as a forward line player and as a playmaker. But if you ask me, as a forward line player, you can win matches by scoring so many goals. But if you really want to win the championship or win the tournament, you really have to defend well. If you have scored one goal and then you're able to defend one goal, that zero on the sheet can give you a win. So for me, we have really, really improved and understood the importance of defending well and have really worked a lot on it"
India have been placed in Pool C alongside Germany, Ireland, and Namibia. They will begin their campaign against Namibia before taking on Germany, the tournament's strong favourites, who are one-time champions and two-time runners-up.
About facing Germany, Jyoti expressed confidence noting that the team has experience playing top international sides like Germany and Ireland. She emphasised that knowing their own strengths, following their training plans and sticking to strategies puts them in good form and gives them a chance to compete withand potentially beatany team.
"I would say, no matter what, which team is in front of us, even though they are stronger than us in the world, but we have played against them. We have played against Germany, we have played against Ireland long back, but we have played with the top teams in the world before in our previous tours," Jyoti said.
"So I would just say that we know how they play. We know their hockey, but we know ourselves better and we know how to perform. And we have a lot of meetings and we train according to that. So I would like to say that we are in a good phase, that we are in good form. And If we stick to our plans, if we stick to what we are training, then I guess we can beat any of the teams," added the Indian team captain.
Khandekar emphasised on a match-by-match approach for the World Cup, noting that all 24 teams, including Germany, will perform to the best of their abilities. While acknowledging Germany's strong history, he highlighted India's own achievements and stressed focusing on key areas, planning strategies and countering opponents' strengths. He also noted that Germany will be preparing for India just as India is preparing for them.
"All 24 teams will be coming to participate and play and perform well. So whatever is best in their capacity, they can do it. So are we, so is Germany. Germany have won some world medals in previous tournaments and all that. Of course, they have history. So are we, having a lot of history. So not just about Germany, we will go match by match, one day at a time," said the coach while in conversation with ANI.
"Germany are a very good team. There are certain areas where we need to be concerned or we need to be sure about it that this is what we are going to do and this is the area where they are good and then we need to counter it. But again, having said that, it's a World Cup. And if we are talking about Germany, of course, Germany also will be talking about India," he added.
Coach Khandekar and captain Jyoti praised the support from the Coca-Cola India Foundation, which enabled the team to gain valuable international exposure.
"It was a great help by Anandana Coca-Cola India Foundation. We went to Australia recently and we played some good five competitive matches there. And that really helped us to understand the attacking as well as the defense, the hockey that we want to play in the World Cup and the coming World Cup. So I would say that initiative and that helped was great, great support by Coca-Cola India Foundation. So I really thank them," said Khandekar.
"They have helped us so much that we can go on foreign exposure, we can understand Australians, we can understand international hockey for the entire team. I mean, if the whole team understands that thing, and plays at that level, then we get to know what is the level there, at the international level. So that thing helps us a lot to grow," Jyoti said.
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