History beckons as India begin their campaign at FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025

 India led by Rohit will take on Chile in the opening match; Legendary player-turned-Coach PR Sreejesh put faith in months of preparations and his talented brigade

Khel Today Bureau

Chennai: The Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team are all-set to begin their campaign on home soil as the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 begins on 28th November at the iconic Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Egmore, Chennai and at the Madurai International Hockey Stadium.

India led by Rohit will take on underdogs Chile in their opening game. The two have never played each other at a FIH accredited event in recent times and it will be an interesting contest as the hosts look to shake off early nerves in the marquee tournament.

India last won the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016 hosted in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – a tournament that gave the Senior side stars who went on to become champions in the following decade including India Captain Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Varun Kumar, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Simranjeet Singh among others.

The tournament in Tamil Nadu will be the platform from where stars will emerge in world hockey and for India, a chance to identify and groom the future. No one knows this better than the Coach PR Sreejesh, legendary goalkeeper who has taken on the onus of the India Colts. “Every single player in the team knows how important this tournament is for them. This is where their future begins and a good show here, would certainly mean they push for a place in the senior team. Having said that, the players are eager to get going. It has been several months of preparations and now is the time to perform,” he said on the eve of their campaign opener.

Rohit too put his weight being the preparations, calling it ‘ideal.’ He said, “We got to play the Senior India side regularly during our preparations over the past few months. And coming here almost two weeks early has helped us get used to the ground conditions. The mood in the squad is upbeat and also some nervousness before we start the campaign. But we trust in our preparations and will take it one match at a time.”

In the group stage, India will play Oman in their second match on 29th November in Chennai and take on Switzerland on 2nd December in Madurai.

Speaking about taking on India, Chile’s Coach Matías Amoroso said, “We are very excited to be here in Chennai, India and looking forward to our first match against the home team. We have never played in front of big crowd so the team is very excited that there will be a lot of people coming to watch tomorrow. We just want to perform our best.”

The tournament features 24 teams with defending champions Germany in Pool A along with Canada, South Africa and Ireland. Pool B features India, Oman, Switzerland and Chile while Pool C has Argentina, New Zealand, Japan and China. Pool D features Spain, Belgium, Egypt and Namibia while Pool E has Netherlands, Malaysia, England and Austria while Pool F has France, Australia, Korea and Bangladesh.

The Live Streaming of FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 matches will be available on JioHotstar.