Coach Sreejesh aims to help India retain Junior Asia Cup

After guiding Junior India to the podium in the Sultan of Johor Cup, P R Sreejesh will be hoping to added another medal on his second assignment as coach at the Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament starting in Muscat on November 26.

“The Sultan of Johor Cup was a first-time experience for many of the players, yet they showed great spirit in doing well and I am quite pleased with how they performed,” coach Sreejesh said in a media release.

Junior India secured the bronze medal in Malaysia in October. Under Sreejesh's guidance, the junior national side had recorded a hat-trick of wins. In Muscat, India will be hoping to retain the title they won last year with a 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan. India have won the Junior Asia Cup a record four times, with the previous wins coming in 2004, 2008 and 2015.

“The players have been putting in a lot of hard work at the ongoing national camp in SAI, Bengaluru and we have made certain changes to our game to be more effective in defence and efficient in converting goals,” Sreejesh said.

Defender Amir Ali will lead a 20-member Indian squad for the tournament that is also a qualifying event for next year's FIH Junior World Cup. India have automatically qualified for it by virtue of being hosts.

India is clubbed with Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and Thailand in pool A, while Bangladesh, Malaysia, China, Oman and Pakistan make up Pool B.

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Princedeep Singh, Bikramjit Singh
Defenders: Amir Ali (C), Talem Priyobarta, Shardanand Tiwari, Yogember Rawat, Anmol Ekka, Rohit(VC)
Midfielders: Ankit Pal, Manmeet Singh, Rosan Kujur, Mukesh Toppo, Thokchom Kingson Singh
Forwards: Gurjot Singh, Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Dilraj Singh, Arshdeep Singh and Araijeet Singh Hundal