Bengaluru, May 18 (HS). The Indian junior men's and women's hockey teams left for Europe tour early on Saturday. During the tour, the men's team will compete against Belgium, Bredze Hockey Vereniging Pushp and Germany, while the women's hockey team will take on Belgium, Bredze Hockey Vereeniging Pushp, Germany and Oranje Rood.
Led by captain Jyoti Singh, the Indian junior women's hockey team will begin its campaign against Breda Hockey Vereeniging Push on May 21, followed by a match against Belgium in Breda on May 22. The team will travel to Antwerp to face Belgium on May 24 and return to Breda to play Germany on May 26. They will travel to Dusseldorf to face Germany again on 27 May, then conclude the Europe tour with a match against Oranje Rood in Breda on 29 May.
Before leaving for the tour, women's hockey team captain Jyoti Singh said, “The team is looking forward to traveling across Europe and facing some of the leading European youth hockey clubs as well as some of the toughest international youth teams. This tour will provide us with invaluable match experience and help us understand our strengths and weaknesses. “We have a few players who will also be making their debuts and this is a great opportunity for them to showcase their skills against high caliber opponents.”
The Indian junior men's hockey team, led by captain Rohit, will begin its tour against Belgium in Antwerp on May 20. The reverse match will be played on 22 May, followed by a match against Breda Hockey Vereniging Pushp in Breda on 23 May. The team will face Germany on May 28 in Mönchengladbach and on May 29 in Breda. With this the team's tour will end.
Rohit said before the team departure, “The tour of Europe will be a great platform to test the results of our training in the camp so far. Belgium, Bredze Hockey Vereeniging Pushp and Germany are formidable rivals and it will be interesting to see how we fare against them. Our aim will be to maximize this performance and win all our matches.”