Junior Men’s Hockey WC 2021: Teams Germany, Poland and Canada arrive in Bhubaneswar to compete for the trophy

“We
have
done
lots
of
training
in
small
regional
groups
during
Covid-19
lockdown
periods.
We
also
got
to
play
many
games
against
our
European
Friends
during
the
summer
months,
which
will
help
us
in
the
tournament,”
asserted
Valentin
Altenburg,
Germany
Head
Coach.

Excited
to
compete
in
Bhubaneswar
at
the
iconic
Kalinga
Stadium,
Altenburg
said,
“We
are
extremely
excited
to
come
and
play
here
in
Bhubaneswar
in
such
a
big
stadium.
Kalinga
Stadium
is
one
of
the
finest
hockey
stadiums
in
the
world.”

Team
Poland
also
arrived
on
Friday
afternoon,
and
Head
Coach
Jacek
Adrian
talked
about
their
preparations
for
FIH
Odisha
Hockey
Men’s
Junior
World
Cup
Bhubaneswar
2021.
“Our
preparation
for
the
event
was
not
very
long.
The
weather
in
Poland
is
completely
different,
it
is
very
cold,
especially
in
winters.
But
we
tried
to
do
the
best
we
could
do,
and
I
think
we
will
play
our
best
hockey
here,”
he
said.

Meanwhile,
a
contingent
of
Team
Canada
also
arrived
in
Bhubaneswar
on
Thursday
night
to
compete
for
the
title.
“We
are
really
excited,
we
are
looking
forward
to
play
in
one
of
the
Meccas
for
hockey
in
the
world,
and
the
stadium
is
really
impressive.
So,
we
are
looking
forward
to
getting
a
few
games
in
there,”
Canada
captain
Christopher
Tardif
said.

Germany
will
open
up
their
campaign
against
Pakistan
on
24
November,
while
Poland,
and
Canada,
who
are
both
placed
in
Group
B
along
with
France,
and
India
will
face
off
against
each
other
in
their
opening
game
of
the
competition
on
the
same
day.

This
will
be
the
12th
edition
of
the
biggest
tournament
in
U-21
Men’s
Hockey.
This
is
the
third
consecutive
time
that
India
is
hosting
the
prestigious
tournament,
which
took
place
in
New
Delhi
in
2013
and
in
Lucknow
in
2016.

A
total
of
sixteen
nations
are
participating
in
the
event.
Hosts
and
defending
champions
India
are
grouped
in
pool
B
along
with
Canada,
France
and
Poland.

The
other
teams
in
the
fray
include
Belgium,
Malaysia,
South
Africa
and
Chile
in
pool
A,
Netherlands,
Spain,
Korea
and
United
States
grouped
in
pool
C
while
Germany,
Argentina,
Pakistan
and
Egypt
in
Pool
D.

Each
team
is
set
to
play
three
matches
during
the
league
stage
over
a
period
of
five
days.
This
will
be
followed
by
a
series
of
cross-over
matches,
due
to
take
place
on
30
November,
followed
by
knockout
matches
from
1
December,
with
a
final
to
decide
the
champions
scheduled
for
5
December.