India strong contenders at junior hockey World Cup

India, who won the title in 2001, are drawn in Pool D alongwith the Netherlands, Poland, New Zealand and co-hosts Singapore.

Captained by promising drag-flicker Diwakar Ram, India have had a good outing in the last three editions of the quadrennial event, being silver medalists in 1997 at Milton Keynes, UK, champions at Hobart eight years ago, and reaching the semifinals at Rotterdam four years back.

In the last edition, the Indians lost to Spain in the bronze medal play-off match and had to be satisfied with the fourth position.

However, this time around the Indians are strong contenders for the title and have already made their intentions clear in the two practice matches they played before the tournament.