Following three consecutive victories in the group phase, a confident Indian hockey team is all geared up to face Oman in the quarterfinal of the eighth Junior Asia Cup at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium here on Thursday.
India's path to the knockouts so far has been laden with victories over Japan (2-1), hosts Malaysia (5-4) and China 4-1. Harmanpreet Singh has been in good form, scoring five goals so far with Mandeep Singh and Manpreet following with two goals apiece.
"Yes, we are happy about what we have achieved so far, but here on it's a new tournament for us as we enter the knockout stage of the tournament. We are aware that we enjoy an upper hand over our opponents in the quarterfinal but we cannot take this lightly, as it's in such do-or-die situations where most of the upsets happen," said India coach Harendra Singh.
"Oman is a strong team and our boys are leaving no stones unturned to give their 100 percent to the match. We plan to stick to our basics and do not intend to test or try any new techniques or strategies especially in the knockout stages."
India enter the quarterfinal as the table-toppers of Pool A while Oman did not even manage to win a single match, out of the three they played in Pool B.