India defender Amandeep Lakra on November 24 mentioned the workforce has “identified” and addressed the chinks in their armour to make sure all bases are coated earlier than the upcoming FIH Junior Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
The match shall be held from December 5 to 16, with India beginning their marketing campaign towards South Korea in a Pool C match on the opening day.
“We have had a fantastic preparatory camp. We identified chinks in our armour and worked on them to cover all aspects of our game.
“Each and each one of us has worked extraordinarily laborious and there’s nice camaraderie in the camp. I’ll give this match my all and hopefully contribute considerably to profitable the Junior World Cup,” Lakra said in a Hockey India release.
Lakra said the senior men’s team’s bronze medal-winning outing at the Tokyo Olympics motivated him to establish himself in the sport and aim for glory. The bronze ended India’s 41-year-long wait for a medal in hockey at the Olympics.
“I began dreaming about reaching the identical milestone and upon sharing the identical with my father, he mentioned that arduous work was the one method I’d get there,” Lakra said.
He sad he was also driven to do well in the sport after watching Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey go about his job during his playing days with the national team, of which he is the most capped player.
“As an aspiring participant, I had the chance to satisfy the legendary Dilip Tirkey, who instructed me that he used to work out for 4 hours a day,” he said.
“He additionally suggested us to be hardworking and centered in our efforts to turn into good gamers. His phrases impressed me, and I started making related efforts. I began out at Panposh Sports Academy, however after my father was transferred, I needed to cease enjoying.” He also stated that he is impressed by the drag-flicking abilities of current India captain Harmanpreet Singh.
“Watching him prepare carefully right here in SAI Bengaluru, I get to study rather a lot from him and his on-field focus and model,” Lakra said.
Recalling the challenges he faced in his early days in the sport, he added, “I confronted a little bit bit of issue discovering locations to coach, so I began coaching on grass with my father.
“Then I received a call informing me that I had been invited to join the SAI Centre in Bhopal as part of the Khelo India scheme in 2020. Later, I returned to play in Nationals for Odisha and was chosen for the national camp based on my performance.” Lakra performed sub-junior Nationals in 2015 in Delhi and in 2016 in Manipur and made his junior Nationals debut for Odisha in 2021 on the Junior Men’s National Championship in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu, the place he helped his aspect win the bronze medal.
In 2021, Lakra acquired a name to the junior males’s nationwide camp and he made his debut for the Indian workforce on the 2022 Sultan of Johor Cup, the place India gained the gold medal.
