India hockey colts confident ahead of China tie

Kuantan (Malaysia): Following two back-to-back wins against Japan and Malaysia in the eighth Junior Asia Cup, the Indian hockey team will play their final Pool A match against China on Tuesday.

The match will decide whether India go to the top of the group before entering the quarterfinals or not. The Chinese performance so far in the tournament will give India a psychological advantage as they lost both their encounters against Japan and Malaysia.

Since it is an eight-team tournament, all outfits will reach the knockouts.

"The one day rest has helped us to analyse our performance in the tournament and look back at the areas of concern. We have trained hard and tried to fill up the gaps in the defence so that we can play a tighter game. We will be hoping for a much more balanced performance against China," India coach Harendra Singh said on Monday.

The tournament is being played at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium here.