The Indian Junior Men's Hockey team's recent triumph in the Sultan of Johar Cup is a massive boost for the squad as they prepare for the FIH Junior World Cup, according to Skipper Uttam Singh.
The Indian Junior Men's Hockey team won the Sultan of Johor Cup on Saturday, defeating Australia. This is India's third overall title triumph and their first since 2014. India won the summit clash via shootout (5-4) after the game was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
"I was a member of the Indian team during the previous edition of the competition, and we came very close to winning it but were defeated in the final. This time, however, it was an experienced team, and the entire group had worked extremely hard over the previous few months, so this win feels surreal," Hockey India quoted Uttam Singh as saying.
The youngster stated that India's 2014 victory at the Sultan of Johor served as an inspiration to them. The Indian team that won the Sultan of Johar Cup in 2014 also won the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup in 2016, which was played in Lucknow. This served as a big inspiration for him.
"Yes, I have heard Harmanpreet (Singh) and other players from India's Sultan of Johor Cup winning squad in 2014 speaking fondly about their victory and how it encouraged them to win the Junior World Cup title," he said.
He added, "This is a massive win for us because it had some of the top junior teams in world hockey. It will certainly build our confidence as we work on improving our game further in the lead-up to the Junior World Cup being held next year in Malaysia."
India kicked off their campaign with a 5-2 victory against Malaysia. India lost their next game against South Africa 4-5 and after that made a massive comeback by defeating Japan 5-1. India recorded a 5-5 draw against Great Britain and Australia in their last two round-robin matches.
Speaking about their loss against South Africa, Uttam said, "It was a tough start for us. Losing by a goal to South Africa was an eye opener and we knew we had to pull ourselves up."
Uttam believes that the most important takeaway from the team's experience in this tournament is their ability to play attacking hockey.
"This is the style of play of the Senior team, and we are very inspired by them. Our attack was strong throughout the tournament, and we capitalised on our opportunities. We will further analyse our game in the coming weeks," "Uttam signed off.
( With inputs from ANI )
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