The 12th Junior World Cup (Under 21) will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha, from today till the 5th. The 16 participating teams are divided into 4 divisions.
Belgium, Chile, Malaysia, South Africa, current champions India, France, Poland, Canada in the ‘A’ category, Spain, the Netherlands, South Korea, USA in the ‘C’ category, Germany, Argentina, Pakistan in the ‘D’ category. Both teams are from Egypt. Each team must face the other team in their division once. The teams that finish in the top-2 in each division at the end of the league will qualify for the quarterfinals. Australia and England have withdrawn due to Corona travel restrictions.
Six-time champions Germany, two-time champions India and Belgium and the Netherlands are leading the trophy.
The Indian team is led by Vivek Sagar Prasad. He was a member of the historic Indian senior team that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian team, which beat Belgium in 2016, is gearing up to retain the title. The local environment is a positive aspect for the Indian team. But fans are not allowed due to the corona block protection procedure.
The senior players have given various suggestions to the Indian youth force. Senior team captain Manpreet Singh said, ‘Recently the junior team played some training matches against us. They beat us in one of those games. I hope they have the ability to advance to the finals. If we play together as a team throughout the series we can definitely win the trophy again.
I have spoken to junior team captain Vivek Sagar several times. Be fully focused on your game as a team. I have said that we can win if we do so. ‘
Another Indian senior, Sreejesh, said, ‘Our players miss the opportunity to play in front of a huge fan base. The beauty of the Kalinga ground is the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the fans. I think the climate will help our team to perform better even without the fans. ‘
On the first day today the Indian team meets France (8pm) led by Timothy Clement in its opening match.
Earlier in the day, Belgium-South Africa (9.30am), Germany-Pakistan (12pm), Canada-Poland (2.30pm) and Malaysia-Chile (5pm) clashed in other matches. The match is broadcast live on Star Sports channels.