Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team face hosts Malaysia in their opening match of 9th Sultan of Johor Cup 2019

The team led by Captain Mandeep Mor and Vice Captain Sanjay will aim to start their campaign on a winning note

Johor Bahru: The Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team will return to competition when they take on hosts Malaysia in their opening match of the 9th Sultan of Johor Cup 2019 here at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

The team led by the talented Defender Mandeep Mor and Vice Captained by fellow Defender Sanjay will look to start the prestigious tournament on a winning note. “We are really looking forward to participating in the 9th Sultan of Johor Cup 2019 as it is a huge tournament at the Junior level. We start tomorrow against the hosts, and we are hoping we can repeat last year’s feat as we beat them 2-1 to start our campaign on a positive note. We have worked hard in our National Camp before coming here, and the team is really excited to produce quality performances against the opponents we face here,” stated Captain Mandeep Mor on the eve of the match.

Last year’s edition saw India defeat Malaysia 2-1 in their opening match, and register convincing 7-1, 1-0, 5-4 wins against New Zealand, Japan and Australia respectively. The team remained unbeaten against the four teams but could not overcome a Great Britain team, to whom they lost 2-3 in their last round-robin match as well as the Final match of the tournament.

“We did win the Silver Medal in the last edition but we were not satisfied at all. We felt we were the best team in the tournament, and our performances in the round-robin stages showed that, but we eventually lost two matches against Great Britain narrowly. This year we are determined to produce consistent performances and win the tournament,” said Mor.

India will start the tournament against Malaysia on Saturday, with the two teams having faced each other on 10 previous occasions since 2011 at the Junior level, out of which India have won the last seven matches, while the hosts have only registered one win, and two matches ending in draws.

The 9th Sultan of Johor 2019 will see the same six teams from last year’s edition take part in this year’s edition, and the Indian Junior Men’s team will play New Zealand in their second match on Sunday, 13th October and play against Japan on Tuesday, 15th October. The team will then take on 2017 winners Australia on 16th October and will play their last round robin match on 18th October against defending Champions Great Britain.

India will take on Malaysia on Saturday, 12th October 2019 at 1805hrs IST.