Johor Bahru: Back-to-back wins against Argentina and Malaysia has given the defending Champions India lots of confidence ahead of their final league match against a rather low-spirited Australian attack in the ongoing 5th Sultan of Johor Cup on Saturday.
The Indian Men's Junior Team, who entered the tournament as two-time defending champions, started their campaign with a 5-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan. This was followed by a 3-4 loss against an unbeaten team of Great Britain.
The Indian colts then recovered with a 3-2 win against the mighty Argentines. The youngsters raised their performance for the occasion keeping India's chances alive to finish at the top of the table.
A 2-1 win against Malaysia yesterday has further conjured up hopes of India sucessfully defending the title for the third consecutive year.
This match tomorrow against the Australians is just the right preparation that these boys need before playing the tournament decider on Sunday.
Australia's campaign in this tournament has been rather unimpressive, managing just one win in the tournament so far.
Their 4-4 draw against Great Britain must have given them just enough confidence to take on India who have already made it to the finals on the basis their win against Malaysia yesterday.
Australia would be playing a must win match against India tomorrow to keep their hopes alive for a bronze medal in the tournament.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow's game, India coach Harendra Singh said: "We are in a good position, and we are not taking it lightly. The boys are hungry to defend the championship title for the third consecutive year and they are not ready to let any moment go out of their hand.
"Our goals are proof of our hunger to defend the title.
Australia is a tough team and we are preparing hard to finish off our league matches on a winning note."
India has managed to score 13 goals in the tournament, the highest scored by any team so far. For India Sumit Kumar (3 goals), Armaan Qureshi (2 goals) and Harmanpreet Singh (2 goals) are the top scorers.
With a strong midfield being led by captain Harjeet and defence by vice-captain Dipsan Tirkey, India will look to come up with another impressive performance tomorrow.
India skipper Harjeet Singh said: "It's an important match for us tomorrow as we take on the Australians in our last league match in the tournament. The Australians are really strong, and we cannot take them lightly. Sumit, Arman have scored fluently in the last few matches and the defence has also been at the top of their form, hence I am confident of a good performance from the team tomorrow."
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