India would look to continue their winning momentum after two commanding victories however they will ill-afford to drop their guard after they face arch-rivals Pakistan in a Pool A match of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup right here on Saturday.
India thrashed Chinese Taipei 18-0 in their opening match, earlier than beating Japan 3-1. But they’ll have their first actual check of the match in the type of a assured Pakistan who’ve additionally notched up resounding wins over Chinese Taipei (15-1) and Thailand (9-0).
India captain Uttam Singh stated the 2 wins had instilled lots of confidence in his team however admitted that the match against Pakistan shall be a “close contest”.
“We have started the tournament on a strong note and we will look to continue with the same mentality against Pakistan. Our first two wins have given us the confidence we needed to go through the tournament. Pakistan have a strong team as well and it will be a close contest,” stated Uttam on Friday.
Uttam stated India’s defence was able to dealing with the Pakistani assaults.
“We have a good defensive unit but Pakistan also have good attackers among their ranks. But we have faced similar challenges over the past and we are confident we will be able to restrict them from scoring goals,” stated Uttam.
The two groups final performed against one another in the 2015 Junior Asia Cup ultimate, which India received 6-2.
Since 2011, the arch-rivals have met seven instances in the Junior Asia Cup, with India winning 5 instances whereas Pakistan emerged victorious as soon as. One match ended in a draw.
India head coach CR Kumar stated his gamers can have to stay calm and play to their strengths against Pakistan.
“Playing against Pakistan is always a challenge. But we have trained well and if we focus on what we have been learning over the past few months, we will be able to get a good result out of this game. We have to keep our calm and play to our strengths.” India will conclude their pool engagements with a match against Thailand on Sunday.
