After
a
disappointing
start
to
the
tournament
when
they
were
stunned
4-5
by
France,
India
lifted
their
game
by
leaps
and
bounds
to
qualify
for
their
second
consecutive
semifinal
in
the
Junior
World
Cup.
India
produced
a
defensive
master-class
on
Wednesday
(December
1)
to
eke
out
a
narrow
1-0
win
over
European
giants
Belgium
with
the
likes
of
Yashdeep
Siwach,
vice-captain
Sanjay
Kumar
and
Shardanand
Tiwai
shinning
bright
in
the
backline.
India’s
two
goalkeepers
–
Prasanth
Chauhan
and
Pawan,
in
particular
-,
were
terrific
against
Belgium
and
produced
some
breath-taking
saves
to
deny
their
opponents.
With
four
quality
penalty
corner
specialists
–
Sanjay,
Tiwari,
Araijeet
Singh
Hundal
and
Abhishek
Lakra
–
in
their
ranks,
India’s
strength
lies
in
set
pieces
and
it
has
been
quite
evident
in
the
tournament
so
far.
In
fact,
India’s
winner
against
Belgium
came
from
a
penalty
corner
through
Tiwari
after
he
was
brilliantly
set
up
by
a
dummy
from
Sanjay.
Even
though
Sanjay
didn’t
score
in
the
quarterfinal,
he
still
remains
India’s
best
bet
from
set
pieces
and
has
already
registered
back-to-back
hat-tricks
against
France
and
Poland
in
the
pool
stages.
The
hallmark
of
India’s
performance
against
Belgium
was
the
calm
and
composed
mindset
of
the
players
when
put
under
pressure
and
chief
coach
Graham
Reid
too
accepted
the
fact.
“Our
defence
was
much
better
than
our
first
game
against
France.
We
did
a
lot
of
work
on
it,”
he
said.
“Both
keepers
played
very
well.
It
was
nice
to
see
them
really
shine.
But
we
have
still
got
some
work
to
do.
“One
of
things
I
talk
a
lot
about
is
focus
and
making
sure
that
whenever
we
are
on
the
pitch
we
are
living
in
present
about
whatever
we
are
doing.
Calmness
normally
comes
from
being
prepared.
If
you
are
prepared
that
helps,”
the
Australian
added.
Against
Belgium,
Uttam
Singh
was
a
livewire
upfront,
showing
his
wide
range
of
skills
by
twisting
and
turning
to
create
opportunities,
but
Hundal
and
Bobby
Singh
Dhami
need
to
be
more
creative.
Skipper
Vivek
Sagar
Prasad,
who
already
has
the
experience
of
playing
top-level
hockey
having
been
a
part
of
India’s
historic
bronze
medal-winning
campaign
at
the
Tokyo
Olympics,
continued
to
shine
in
the
midfield
with
his
calming
influence.
But
the
Germans
would
be
a
tough
nut
to
crack
as
they
would
be
aiming
to
reclaim
the
world
title
after
a
hiatus
of
eight
years.
Germany
last
won
the
Junior
World
Cup
title
in
2013
in
New
Delhi
but
since
then,
a
third
place
finish
in
the
last
edition
in
Lucknow
in
2016
was
the
best
they
could
achieve.
Reid
too
acknowledged
Germany’s
potential
at
this
level.
“You
should
never
ever
write
Germany
off
even
in
last
seconds.
They
have
proven
over
the
years
that
they
are
a
class
side,
specially
in
this
level
of
competition.
Junior
World
Cup
they
almost
own
it,”
he
said.
“They
are
a
quality
team.”
Meanwhile
in
the
other
semifinal,
tournament’s
surprise
package
France
will
be
up
against
Argentina.
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