Now playing: The drag stars

Bhubaneswar, November 30

Defending champions India would bank on their attacking instinct and drag-flicking prowess to outwit European giants Belgium in the quarterfinals of the Junior Hockey World Cup here tomorrow.

India confident

India’s chief coach Graham Reid, who is in charge of the junior side for this tournament, sounded confident ahead of the crucial tie. “The players had a look at them (Belgium) and we are very confident. Hopefully, we can go and get a win,” said the Australian, who guided India to the Tokyo Olympics bronze. India captain Vivek Sagar Prasad echoed the coach’s opinion. “Belgium is a very good team and we will try to do our best against them,” he said.

A blessing in disguise for Belgians

With the tournament being without spectators due to the Covid-19 threat, Belgium coach Jeroen Baart feels it will work in his side’s favour. “It’s a pressure less for us. It’s something we are not really used to (playing in packed stadiums). Looking back at 2016, we struggled a bit in the first half of the tournament. Indian support was creative in Lucknow,” said Baart, who was in charge of the team in 2016 as well. “It also gives some extra pressure and load on Indian players. I am really curious to see only 1,000 spectators inside the stadium. But there will be a lot of noise, there will be a bit of atmosphere,” he added.

Pakistan thrash Harendra’s USA

Pakistan thrashed USA 18-2 to qualify for the ninth to 12th place classification match of the FIH Junior hockey World Cup. USA are being mentored by former India player and coach Harendra Singh.

One of the title favourites, India were stunned 5-4 by France in their first match before they got their act together and thrashed Canada 13-1 and Poland 8-2 to finish second behind France in Pool B , thus qualifying for the knockout round.

There will be no second chances now, and the Indians must play their hearts out if they want to win the title for the third time. The quarterfinal against Belgium will be a rematch of the last edition’s final, in which India beat the European side 2-1 to claim the title under coach Harendra Singh in Lucknow in 2016. You can expect a hard-fought match tomorrow.

Strong attack

India boast of a fiery attacking line-up with the likes of Uttam Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Sudeep Chirmako and Maninder Singh. Uttam and Maninder have been brilliant inside the opponents’ circle. Adding to India’s strength is the presence of penalty-corner specialists Sanjay Kumar, Hundal, Shardanand Tiwari and Abhishek Lakra, all of whom have scored in the tournament. Vice-captain Sanjay has been in ominous form with set-pieces and registered back-to-back hat-tricks against France and Canada, while Hundal too got a hat-trick against Poland.

The midfield is in the safe hands of skipper Vivek Sagar Prasad, who already has the experience of top-level success, having been part of India’s historic bronze medal-winning campaign at the Tokyo Olympics.

The backline, however, remains a concern and the likes of Sanjay, Tiwari, Lakra and Yashdeep Siwach will have to be on their toes.

Belgium have never won the Junior World Cup and pressure would be on them to replicate the success of their senior team, which is the reigning Olympics as well world champion.

Belgium head coach Jeroen Baart is well aware of India’s threat from penalty-corners and said his players will need to keep a strong defensive structure to deal with it.

“India were very efficient (with PCs). There are three boys who are very good in PC conversions. Very good with drag-flick, very aggressive on the rebound. It is obviously a big threat,” he said. “For us, it starts with defending with a really high sprint outside the circle.” — PTI