Pumped-up Indians eye maiden Jr Asia cup title

The mouth-watering clash, the first between the two on Pakistani soil for five years, follows a much-hyped cricket series between the now-on-mend neighbours which India won earlier this month.

India downed Pakistan 2-0 in the four-nation junior tournament in Malaysia, drew 1-1 at Cairo and then rocked Pakistan 5-0 at Poland, in the last two years.

Penalty corner expert Sandeep Singh, who scored all five goals in Poland, is again the main weapon for India who are the reigning world junior champions. Singh, tournament’s top scorer with 14 goals, failed to convert any of the four penalty corners and also missed a penalty stroke in the 4-3 semi final win against Korea yesterday.

Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa said with both teams already qualified for next year’s Junior World Cup, the pressure has lessened. “Both teams will be under less pressure as we have already qualified for the World Cup,” said Bajwa, a former Olympian. “The junior team shows both by Pakistan and India prove that the future of hockey in both these countries is safe,” he said.

In two classification matches, China beat Singapore 2-0 to clinch the seventh position while Chinese Taipei won 3-2 against Sri Lanka to earn the 11th spot.