Junior World Cup: Indian colts face Poland in must-win game

Bhubaneswar, November 26

Their campaign might be back on track following a massive win over minnows Canada, but defending champions India must beat Poland in their final Pool B match to qualify for the quarterfinals of the FIH Junior World Cup here tomorrow.

The 4-5 defeat to France, one of the teams tipped to watch out for, dealt a massive blow to India’s campaign and put paid to their hopes of topping their pool.

With a win and a defeat, India are currently placed second in Pool B ahead of Poland on goal difference. France, who have a perfect record till now, are set to top it. This means India face the prospect of running into European giants and top seed Belgium in the quarterfinals, who are likely to top Pool A.

Given the scenario, complacency must have no place in the Indian scheme of things if they wish to defend their title. “…But we can’t do anything about that now (loss against France),” chief coach Graham Reid said. “If we have to win back-to-back titles, we will have to beat every team henceforth. We will not like to think ahead of us, we have a match against Poland before that and that’s what we will be thinking about. We have to win that before we think about the next stage,” he added. — PTI