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Salalah (Oman). After topping the Pool A table with an unbeaten campaign, the Indian junior men’s hockey team will take on Korea in the semi-finals of the Junior Asia Cup 2023 here on Wednesday.
Defending Asian champions India have qualified for the FIH Junior Hockey Men’s World Cup after reaching the semi-finals. They will now aim to overcome Korea’s challenge and move towards a second consecutive Asian title. India captain Uttam Singh told reporters before the match, “There is a good atmosphere in our camp. One of the goals of our tournament Our goal was to qualify for the FIH Junior Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, which we have accomplished. We are one of the top teams in Asia, so it is necessary that we do well in the Junior Men’s Asia Cup as well. We have done well so far And will continue to do so in the semi-finals as well.”
He said, “When we prepare in the camp, we never know which team we have to face at which stage. So, we always keep our plans and goals in mind and prepare against any opposition. Let’s try our best to hang on to them.” India started the pool stage of the tournament by thrashing Chinese Taipei 18-0, while in the second match they beat Japan 3-1. After a thrilling 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Pakistan, the Indian youngsters thrashed Thailand 17-0 to top Pool A.
On the team’s performance so far, India coach CR Kumar said, “We have always had faith in this team. We conducted a long camp and prepared well with the help of Hockey India and SAI. We are looking forward to a good match against Korea.” The team has done well in the tournament so far and we stick to our plans. We would like to maintain the momentum in the upcoming games.” “It is always good to have tough games before going into the semi-finals. Enjoyed the matches and we proved our ability.” Meanwhile, Korea have also been in good form in this tournament.
They started their campaign by thrashing Uzbekistan 6–1 and followed it up with an 8–1 win over Oman. Korea lost 1-3 to Malaysia but came back to beat Bangladesh 3-1 to finish second in Pool B. The last time India’s junior men’s hockey team faced Korea was in the 2013 Hockey Junior World Cup. Was. The match ended in a 3-3 draw. The two teams have met five times since 2005 and have won two each. On the pressure of playing in the semi-finals, Uttam said, “We did well in the Sultan of Johor Cup last year and we played well against strong teams. We beat Australia to win the title. We have come here with that experience which will help us in the matches to come.”
Pc:India TV Hindi
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