After their bronze medal-winning campaign at the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia, the Indian Junior Men’s Team have had some time to reflect on their performance at the marquee event where they beat New Zealand in a thrilling play-off match to win the bronze.
Echoing the team’s sentiments, Skipper Amir Ali said, “We were very disappointed after missing out on the final due to goal difference. But as a team, we decided there was no point looking back at what we could have done better. We decided to focus on the bronze medal match and told ourselves that we can’t go back home empty handed.”
The Indian team remained on top of the points table throughout the tournament with strong performances against Japan (4-2), Great Britain (6-4), Malaysia (4-2), and New Zealand (3-3). However, it was the 0-4 loss against Australia, which went on to win the tournament, that cost India dearly. It was by a mere one-goal difference that GB made the final ahead of India.
However, the team’s fighting spirit, ignited by their new coach, legendary PR Sreejesh, helped them face tense situations.
“At least 12 players in the team were playing a big tournament for the first time. They had earlier played the test series but they were new to a tournament set up. Sree bhai (Sreejesh) is the best mentor we could have had. He constantly spoke to us about enjoying the matches we played without taking any pressure. This was largely why we would bounce back even after conceding goals and ended up winning those matches too,” explained Ali, who was part of the team that lifted the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2022.