Hockey India names 20-member Indian men’s team for Junior Asia Cup 2024 in Muscat

Hockey India on Monday announced a 20-member Indian men’s hockey squad for the Men’s Junior Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Muscat, Oman from November 26 to December 4, 2024.

India has won this tournament for a record four times including 2023, 2015, 2008 and 2004. The India Colts beat nemesis Pakistan 2-1 in the final last year to lift the title. 

This year, the event will see 10 teams from the continent divided into two pools with India, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and Thailand in pool A and Bangladesh, Malaysia, China, Oman and Pakistan in Pool B.

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Although India qualifies for the FIH Junior World Cup by virtue of being the hosts, the team under coach PR Sreejesh will be vying to carry on its momentum from the recent success at the Sultan of Johor Cup where it finished on the podium, placing third. 

The India Colts side will be led by Amir Ali and vice captained by Rohit.

“The Sultan of Johor Cup was a first-time experience for many of the players, yet they showed great spirit in doing well and I am quite pleased with how they performed. The team will be taking confidence from that performance and will be working towards a successful outing in the Junior Asia Cup,” said the head coach and former India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.

“The players have been putting in a lot of hard work at the ongoing national camp in SAI, Bengaluru and we have made certain changes to our game to be more effective in defence and efficient in converting goals,” he added.