KUALA LUMPUR – Can Argentina defend their title without their hockey sticks?
It appears that Argentina’s hopes of defending their FIH Junior World Cup are in jeopardy as they have yet to receive their hockey sticks since departing from Buenos Aires on November 28.
Speaking to Scoop, Argentina’s head coach, Juan Ignacio Gilardi, said it is going to be tough for his team to train at the national hockey stadium prior to their opening fixture.
“We are really frustrated with our current situation as all our equipment is stuck at our transit flight in Amsterdam.
“We have been using a set of specialised sticks in all our tournaments and we really need them to arrive so that we can begin our proper training sessions,” said Juan.
Juan, a former defender and a gold medalist with Argentina in the 2016 Rio Olympic, also said that his charges have been relying on Chile’s hockey sticks, and expressed disappointment with the Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) for not using a video analysis system in this year’s World cup.
“Yesterday, we trained a bit on the turf using Chile’s hockey sticks, but they don’t suit us as they are too heavy and a different size.
“At the same time, we also don’t want to burden Chile by using their sticks.
“We were supposed to play a friendly match against New Zealand today, but we couldn’t do it because we don’t have our sticks. So, we are just here to do some cardio and fitness training using footballs.
“We hope we can get our sticks by tomorrow so that our players will have the motivation to give their best in this World Cup,” Juan added.
Juan will be relying on five players from 2021 to lead his team’s charge when they play Australia on December 5.
The World Cup will be hosted in Kuala Lumpur from December 5 to 16.
The other teams in Group A, who will also open their JWC campaign on that date, are Malaysia and Chile. – December 1,2023