KUALA LUMPUR – India emerged victorious, however the Men in Blue are frustrated about conceding numerous penalty corners in their opening group match of the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup against South Korea.
Head coach C.R. Kumar said the issue of giving away corners has to be rectified to ensure that they avoid an early exit from the tournament.
“We conceded six penalty corners in the match, and this is something worrying for my team.
“I’m disappointed that my players lost focus on several occasions during the game, and we failed to capitalise on several chances that we had.
“Before the game, we had a plan to avoid making silly errors, but unfortunately, we couldn’t stick to our plan, leading us to concede two goals.
“We hope to address our flaws and come back stronger in our next group match,” said Kumar in the post-match conference.
Kumar also commended the performance of Araijeet Singh Hundal, who scored a hat trick in the match, expressing hope that the attacker would reach even greater heights in his career.
“Araijeet had a great game today and was influential for us from the start till the end.
“He was clinical with his finishing, helping us overcome South Korea’s tight defence, especially in the second and third quarters.
“I won’t be surprised if Araijeet gets selected to play in the senior team one day, and I believe he deserves to participate in more prestigious tournaments like the FIH Pro League in the years to come,” Kumar added.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s head coach, Young Jang, said that he is not disappointed and sees the defeat as progress for his team.
“I’m proud of my boys as they gave India a good fight by winning several penalty corners throughout the match.
“We know that India is a strong team, considering we suffered a 9-1 defeat against them in the Men’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup in Oman in March.
“But now, we only lost by a 2-goal deficit. In my opinion, this is progress. We will work harder in the next match to keep our hopes alive for qualifying for the quarterfinals,” said Jang.
India defeated South Korea 4-2 in the opening Group C game at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Araijeet scored the opening goal for India in the 11th minute.
The 19-year-old attacker then scored in the 16th minute and completed his hat trick in the 41st minute.
Midfielder Amandeep contributed to India’s four-goal margin with a goal in the 30th minute.
South Korea’s goals were scored by Lim Dohyun (38th) and Kim Minkwon (45th) through penalty corners.
The Men in Blue will take on Spain on December 7 to vie for the top spot in Group C. – December 5, 2023