Vice-Captain Surender Announces Sultan Azlan Shah Cup a Litmus Test For Youngsters

The vice-captain of Hockey team Indian men, Surender Kumar on Wednesday said that the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will be a good opportunity for youngsters for testing themselves ahead of the qualifying tournaments for 2020 Olympics.

 

India will be fielding a young squad at the 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. This will be with the likes of Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit Kumar (Junior), Gurinder Singh, Simranjeet Singh, and Gurjant Singh, among others. They have represented amazing and tremendous potential after making their international debut with the senior team.

 

He said that the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup has always been a superb platform for testing youngsters and see how they can adapt to international standards. Their experience will progress ahead of the major (2020 Olympic Games qualifying) tournaments they play this year.

 

Surender added that some of these players have done great at the FIH Champions Trophy and 2018 Men’s World Cup and they also carry a lot of confidence. And he has been speaking to them regularly about handling pressure especially in those situations where we are one goal down or two goals down. Their great show will only be beneficial for our team in the lead up to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

 

The Malaysia-bound team has been undergoing the grind in the soaring summer heat at the Sports Authority of India campus here. Surender said that the team is feeling that the training in the afternoon will help them acclimatize to the weather in Ipoh, where the temperature will hover around 34-36 degrees when India play their matches.

 

He also said that it will be just about the same conditions in Ipoh but maybe a bit more humid. Speaking about the chances of India in the tournament, starting on March 23rd, with Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Canada, Poland in the fray, he emphasized that their goal is to win the gold.

 

He said that the goal is to win gold but they won’t be going into the tournament thinking of the final. They will have to go step-by-step. Their first match is with Japan and then Korea, and it’s important to start well.

 

In 2016, the Haryana-born Surender broke into the national scene when he was picked for the senior men’s camp after a successful outing in the Hockey India League (HIL). Since then, there has been no looking back for him. With his consistently great performances in the backline, he has earned a name for himself.

 

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/sports/sultan-azlan-shah-cup-a-litmus-test-for-youngsters-vice-captain-surender/article26520422.ece