The Junior Hockey World Cup is knocking on the doors and Indian hockey fans are excited to see the future stars as they look to defend the title for India. Recently 2016 Junior World Cup winning star and Olympic bronze medallist Mandeep Singh came in Hockey India’s podcast Hockey Te Charcha. He highlighted his journey and also shared his insights from the 2016 World cup triumph.
Mandeep was one of the pivotal figures of India’ 2016 Junior World Cup win stated, “It’s a big achievement to win the World Cup in India, and we have another chance to repeat it. In 2013, we faced a lot of criticism from people as we missed the opportunity to win the Junior World Cup on home soil and even lost to Pakistan, so in 2016, we had a point to prove with an advantage of playing at home.”
“Our only aim was the podium finish, there was no senior-junior difference in the team, we switched off from our social media, and played as a unit. We trusted each other and backed each other like a family, so that’s how we won the Junior World Cup in 2016,” he added.
The young forward picked up an injury a few weeks before the 2016 Junior World Cup. But he shared how his teammates stood by him and helped him return to the field in due time. He also shared stories from that Junior World Cup and how he combined with Nilkantha and defeat Australia in the semifinals.
Mandeep recently played a huge role in India’s historic bronze medal win at the Tokyo Olympics. It was a 41-year-old wait for the country and this bunch of players did break the jinx at the Summer Games. The youngster highlighted how communication and understanding was key for his terrific performance at the showpiece event.
“At the camp, after every training session, we used to discuss a lot of things like how do we have to lead each other, how do we have to make space for each other, so all these things kind of helped us understand each other. Even during the Olympics, before and after every match, we used to discuss things like what we did well, and where do we need to focus in the next match. So, that helped us perform well,” concluded the forward.
It will be interesting to see how things turn out for India and the Blue Colts going into the Junior Hockey World Cup. It will be the first time the Indian audience will get to witness the future stars
