PR Sreejesh starts coaching debut with a win; India beat Japan in Sultan of Johor Cup

Hyderabad: The Indian junior men’s hockey team, coached by former Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, started their campaign in the Sultan of Johor Cup with a 4-2 win over Japan on Saturday.

Amir Ali (12th minute), Gurjot Singh (36th minute), Anand Kushwaha (44th minute) and Ankit Pal (47th minute) scored the goals for India while Japan found the back of the net through Tsubasa Tanaka and Rakusei Yamanaka in the 26th and 57th minute, respectively.

This was former Indian captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh’s first assignment as the coach of the Indian junior hockey team.

The Indian team started on an attacking note and found success in the very first quarter through Amir Ali, who scored a fine field goal, in the 12th minute to set the tone.

However, after a period of lull where both the teams failed to capitalise on half chances, Japan came back on level terms with four minutes left on the clock in the second quarter through Tanaka.

Japan could have gone 2-1 up at the stroke of the halftime break but good Indian defence made sure the scores were on level terms.

The Indians came out more aggressive after the halftime break and Gurjot, who made his senior India international debut at the Asian Champions Trophy last month, scored another field goal.

India soon made it 3-1 through Anand Kushwaha who scored a good dragflick, arising out of a penalty corner opportunity through Dilraj Singh, and Ankit Pal made it 4-1 from another penalty corner opportunity when he scored off a rebound.

Japan made it 4-2 in the dying minutes of the game when Yamanaka scored but India’s handy lead meant it was too much for Japan in the end to try and overturn.