Hockey Junior World Cup: India coach Graham Reid speaks on pressure of playing at home, picks tournament favourites

India will kickstart their junior hockey World Cup campaign against France on November 24 (Wednesday) in Bhubaneshwar. 

Led by Olympic-winning medallist Vivek Sagar Prasad, India will be hoping for a brilliant start to their campaign. 

Speaking to India media ahead of the first match, Vivek said, "It is a big game. We played with a senior team ( in a practice game) so we have prepared well. It is important to start well. We will do our best."

The team has not had the luxury of playing with international teams to prepare for the tournament but they did play a few games with India's senior side to prepare. Coach Reid had also termed it a 'valualble experience' earlier.

Day 1_ _ #JWC2021 _

It's going to be a day full of action from the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 _

Enjoy the matches only on the https://t.co/pYCSK1ZP62 app.#IndiaKaGame #RisingStars pic.twitter.com/Oms8lnF6pS

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) November 23, 2021

Vivek also said that team will look to play on lines of the senior men's team under Reid, who is also the coach of the senior side. He said that the team will adopt the philosophy of 'One team' and 'next thing mentality'. 

The 'next thing mentality' was a term coined by the Reid for the senior team and it helped India clinch the bronze medal in Tokyo. The philosophy helps team recover from the losses and focus on the next match. 

Reid said that he cannot differentiate between pressure of playing in Olympics and junior World Cup but added that playing at home always bring that extra pressure on the team. 

He said, "There is no one expecting more from this group than ourselves. There will be pressure on the group playing at home but it is important to have this pressure on us as to do well."

On being asked to pick favourites, Reid said Belgium, Netherland and Germany are always favourites but we cannot count out the likes of Pakistan and Malaysia.

He said, "Belgium, Holland and Germany are always going to be very good. I think it was in 2013 World Cup where France came out of the blue and made it to the semi-finals or finals. The Asian teams have been quietly getting about their business. Teams like Pakistan and Malaysia have good junior teams. It does not matter. We are the only one who can determine how we play."