CHENNAI: India opened FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup campaign with a commanding 7-0 win over Chile on Friday night at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai.
Despite the emphatic scoreline, head coach P.R. Sreejesh wants to see a ‘killer attitude’ and greater hunger in front of the goal from his players.
The Indian Colts struggled to find the back of the net in the opening quarter, squandering several opportunities despite dominating play and earning only one penalty corner.
“When something like that happens, we always tell them, don’t relax once you are in the circle, just find that killer attitude. That’s what you really want; you need to have that kind of hunger to score. They raised their game; they created a chance,” Sreejesh explained after the match.
Playing in front of a noisy home crowd, Sreejesh stressed on the importance of overcoming starting jitters.
“See, when a major tournament starts, players tend to hesitate a bit. That was starting trouble, but once they found out that they were in rhythm, they started to attack with purpose, they created opportunities, and eventually they scored,” the legendary Indian goalkeeper added.
A major concern leading into the tournament was the team’s penalty corner conversion rate, which stood at a worrying 15 per cent during its runner-up finish in the Sultan of Johor Cup 2025. Agencies
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