The Hindu : Sport : Junior World Cup gets off to a start today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

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Junior World Cup gets off to a start today

S. Thyagarajan

CHENNAI: From Versailles in 1979 to Rotterdam in 2005, the junior version of the World hockey championship has traversed an eventful course. Conceived as an instrument for enlarging the national pool of talent by framing a perfect base for youngsters to graduate into the senior segment, the junior competition, somewhat inexplicably, suffered from want of recognition for long.

When put on boards at Versailles after France had offered the Roger Danet Trophy in memory of the former President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), there was understandable scepticism whether the event would really pick up steam. For quite a length of time, an effective, realistic format was evasive.

Once the trials and tribulations were conquered to set a pattern for qualification and format, the junior editions acquired a status and identity among the hockey fraternity. As many as 14 countries were in the list of regulars in the Eighties. One edition in Vancouver in 1985 was even held in an indoor coliseum.

As the seventh edition comes into focus on Wednesday at Rotterdam, featuring 16 teams on the roster, it is difficult to refrain from introspecting the vicissitudes of a whole a new generation. A look at the victory chart portrays the dominance of Germany, winner of the Cup for a record four-in-a-row between 1982 to 1993.

Stepping stone

The junior World Cup has also been the stepping stone to many great careers that include India's twice Olympic captain, Pargat Singh, Germany's outstanding full back Carsten Fischer, and Australia's current leader, Brent Livermore. Even the renowned coaches like Barry Dancer of Australia, Paul Lissek of Germany, and V. Baskaran of India were part of the junior regimen.

The Rotterdam edition holds a special significance for India, which enters the fray as the defending champion. Not many fancied India when it began the campaign at the last edition in Hobart in 2001. But the team, led by striker Gagan Ajit Singh came up with a few sparkling performances and beat Argentina with remarkable ease in the final.

Even in the previous edition, the Indians, captained by Baljit Singh Saini, and coached by V. Baskaran, played a memorable match against Australia at Milton Kenyes in the final, eventually losing the verdict by a whisker as it were.

Where India stands in the present configuration in Rotterdam is an interesting poser. As the champion of Asia and as the defending champion, India invites a lot of focus. None can dispute the effort that has gone into preparing the squad for well over six months.

The recent victory in the four-nation at Bilbao on way to Rotterdam confirms that everything is sailing smoothly. But any filament of complacency will be an insidious disease that can disrupt all calculations.

Projected strength

Understandably, the team is projected as strong, that includes four Olympians, goal-keeper Adrian D'Souza, full back William Xalco, mid-fielder Sandeep Singh, and winger Adam Sinclair, who all played in Athens. Added to this is the plethora of senior internationals like V.S. Vinay, Vivek Gupta, Senthil and Tushar Khandekar.

As the chief coach, Harendra Singh, had said more than once, that the team has to approach every match as important as the other. The new format, where points and aggregate goals do matter when the teams progress into the second stage, there cannot be a mis-step or loss of concentration. The strength rests in Sandeep Singh's ability to hit penalty corners, and in the defence of them by goal-keeper Adrian D'Souza.

Only four countries — Pakistan, Germany, Australia and India — have won the Cup before. So the Dutch, with their enviable record in the senior section, will go all out for the trophy. As a host, it has an added advantage. Australia and Spain are the other who will put up their claims.

Pakistan returns to the fold after shockingly missing a berth at Hobart. The players are in fine fettle after their exposure in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament last month. Poland and Mexico are in the fray for the first time.

Everything points out to an absorbing competition in the port city. If India gets a special attention it is because the squad enters the field against Egypt on Wednesday as the defending champion.

The Pools: A: Spain, England, Korea and Mexico; B: Germany, Argentina, South Africa and Malaysia; C: Australia, Pakistan, Belgium and Chile; D: India, Poland, Holland and Egypt.

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