India faces hosts Poland in lung-opener

India faces hosts Poland in lung-opener
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, August 15: India will start their campaign with a match against Poland on Wednesday in a four-Nation junior hockey tournament at Ponzan, Poland.

The tournament also features Belgium and Egypt who will clash in the opening encounter also scheduled for Wednesday, a Indian Hockey Federation release said here on Tuesday.

A 16-member junior team led by forward Bipin Fernandez left for Ponzan on Tuesday and will play three matches at the league stage of the tournament. The top two teams will play the final on August 20 while the other two will slog it out for the third place on the same day, the release said.

Team: Baljit Singh, Bharat Chetri (both goalkeepers), Bikramjit Singh Sr, Kanwalpreet Singh, Bikramjit Singh Jr (all full-backs), Vikram Pillai, Sonu, Prabodh Tirkey, Natarajan, Viren Rasquinha (mid-fielders), Amarjit Pratap, Bipin Fernandez (captain), Inderjit Singh, Gurjant Singh, Tejbir Singh, Kamlesh Kumar (forwards). Chief Coach: CR Kumar.

Tournament schedule: August 16 - Belgium vs Egypt; India vs Poland August 17 - India vs Belgium; Poland vs Egypt August 18 - Rest Day August 19- India vs Egypt; Poland vs Egypt August 20- Match for 3rd/4th place and Final