India will be the firm favourites to defend their Junior Hockey World Cup 2021 which commences from 24th November at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India. The men in blue last won the title at Dhyan Chand stadium in Lucknow where they beat Belgium 2-1 in the finals and i saw the finals closely from the VIP stands in the stadium.
The Indian team is led by Vivek Sagar Prasad who have been a part of Indian team from January 2018 and will lead the side. He was named the FIH Young Player of the year award at 2020-21 FIH Awards and lot will be expected from the skipper who will be the link berween the defensive structure and the forwards for India.
Top contenders Australia, New Zealand and England had to withdraw from the tournament following the Covid-19 criris which made way for Pan-American team USA and Canada alongside Poland. India was coached by Harendra Singh in the 2016 edition but Harry will still be in action as he will coach the USA hockey team this time.
India have been drawn in Pool B, alongside Canada, France and Poland. Pool A consists of last edition’s finalist Belgium with Chile, Malaysia and South Africa. Group C has the likes of South Korea, Netherlands, Spain and United States. Group D is probably the group of death with Pakistan, Argentina, Germany and Egypt.
Full schedule
Live streaming and telecast details
In an unfortunate situation for the hockey fans, the telecast of the starting matches will not be available around the world on your television sets on or any renowned streaming platform, but you can still the action on watch.hockey from 24th-30th November 2021.
Matches from December 1 to 5 will be have live telecast on Star Sports network in India and live streaming will be available on Hotstar mobile application or their website.
